Syntactical Errors in Programs Written by Beginning Students in Business Programming

Abstract

Syntactical errors in programs written by beginning business computer programming students are described in this paper. Source listings of unsuccessful attempts at compiling COBOL programs by college-level students were analyzed to determine: (a) the locations of errors within the programs, (b) the causes of syntactical errors, and (c) the most common syntactical errors. The results of the study may serve as a guide to instructors in introductory COBOL programming courses as they strive to assist students in avoiding the most common syntactical errors. The study also may serve as a basis for experimental research to study the effects of knowledge of the most common syntactical errors on the frequency of occurrence of such errors in programs written by beginning COBOL programmers.