You've made it through the first week. You can now define the information your program should store and manipulate, and you know how to act on this information. You can be proud of what you've accomplished so far.
The second week focuses on reading information into your program and out to your users. COBOL excels in this area, so don't underestimate the value of these chapters and their quizzes and exercises. After all, the value of any software lies in how easily others can use it. Day 8, "Structured Data," will help you take the information your program uses and organize it into a structured format. You can then more easily model the real-world problems that you face daily. Day 9, "File I/O," and Day 10, "Printing," emphasize the need to effectively and efficiently read information into and out of files and print formatted information on your printer. Day 11, "Indexed File I/O," and Day 12, "More on Indexed Files," provide important information that no COBOL programmer should be without. Day 13, "Deleting Records and Other Indexed File Operations," adds to your growing understanding of indexed files by teaching you to delete unwanted information--a skill as important as collecting necessary information. You'll close the second week with still another day of indexed files on Day 14, "A Review of Indexed Files."
After you finish this week, you should rank yourself as a strong intermediate user. You'll be two-thirds of the way through your 21-day journey.
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