Program Segments

Although it is not mandatory, the Procedure Division for a source program is often written as a consecutive group of sections, each of which is composed of a series of closely related operations that are designed to collectively perform a particular function. However, when segmentation is used, the entire Procedure Division must be in sections. In addition, each section must be classified as belonging either to the fixed portion or to one of the independent segments of the object program. Segmentation in no way affects the need for qualification of procedure-names to ensure uniqueness.