The third (and somewhat final) week gives you the knowledge you need to finish your 21-day journey. You'll also have everything you need--except the experience--to be a power COBOL programmer. Although it might be tempting right now to take what you've learned and run out to apply it, you should finish this third week to ensure that you're ready for anything you might encounter.
Day 15, "Data Integrity," focuses on the process of keeping intact (and trustworthy) the information your program manages. Day 16, "Using Look Up and Arrays," instills one of the simplest methods of data validation. Day 17, "Alternate Keys," provides advanced coverage of information provided on Day 11, "Indexed File I/O." Day 18, "Calling Other Programs," covers a topic everyone needs to know in the real world--how to use your program to interact with other programs by calling them. Day 19, "Complex Data Entry Problems," and Day 20, "More Complex Data Entry," shed light on a real-world problem: preparing your program for the way users expect to enter data. Day 19 also gives you your first look at the year 2000 problem and some of the techniques used to handle it. Day 21, "Selecting, Sorting, and Reporting," finishes the week by combining the concepts of selecting relevant information, sorting it into the proper order, and preparing a report.
After finishing this week, you will have completed your 21-day journey. Several bonus days have been included to ensure that you're ready to tackle the world.
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