Everyone learns a little differently, so I have included several different types of resources.
Books
It seems like one of the biggest problems for a COBOL programmer to switch to a language like C # is an object-oriented way. “Everything is an object” is a pretty good generalization inside C # and, of course, good enough for a beginner. So, the first sentence is a book about Object Thinking . He is trying to imagine objects for a philosophical and historical perspective. It specifically discusses some of the differences between procedural languages and OO languages. Now, this is a little academic (written by a professor), but there is a good fundamental foundation.
Once OO is understood, there are a number of C # books available. Many people recommend Richter CLR through C # , which is an impressively good book. If a person is a CS veteran, you cannot recommend a better, more thorough book in C # and CLR. For a more “affordable,” function-oriented path, I always found Troelsen to be excellent.
Sites
Another approach is to compare and match syntaxes. Someone fluent in COBOL will think in COBOL when they first try to write C #. So, here is an article on CodeProject that does a side-by-side comparison of VB.NET, C # and COBOL. This is not a complete overview, but it can be a good reference for those who are trying to understand how, say, write a loop in C #. There is also this blog post that has a greater impact on C # adoption and conversion to COBOL. However, a comparison between the two may be useful.
Training
For those who need instructor courses, Microsoft offers Getting Started with Microsoft.NET for COBOL programmers . However, exactly where it would be suggested, it can be a problem.
Encoding
Fujistu makes a cool product called NetCOBOL for .NET . Nothing beats writing code. Here you can write COBOL code in Visual Studio to create a Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) that runs in the common language runtime (cool). Using this, a COBOL programmer could write OO COBOL, but use the .NET Framework. Perhaps using this, you can go to the next step and use Reflector to decompile IL in C #, VB, etc. The website does not list the price, which means "If you have to ask, you cannot afford it." In addition, the goal here is NOT to write more COBOL, so it can be a very addictive crutch to switch to C #.
Video
Fujistu also published the .NET series for COBOL programmers on youtube. Inside the video is here , and the first lesson is here , but anything from fujistucobol would be nice.