1. Standardization

The mechanism for developing and standardizing the COBOL language is actually quite complex, although it has recently been streamlined to reduce costs.

Previously, standards were labeled ANS (American National Standard) and automatically applied worldwide in the form of an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard.

The first ANS standard appeared in 1968, followed by another in 1974, and the latest in 1985. Eleven years to adopt a standard is really too long, which is why it was agreed that between two versions, specific addenda would be adopted, such as the one on Intrinsic functions published in 1991 2.5