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View Full Version : Re: [LF] Improving Fortran's Viability


Lahey Support
08-15-2003, 01:33 AM
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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font face="arial" size=2>Hi,</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>I've been thinking about what could a group of
Fortran programmers do to improve Fortran's popularity.</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>An idea whose time may have come:&nbsp; Write
Knuth algorithms in ELF90 and make the code available on the
web.</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>I suggest ELF90 because it would lead to a
discipline that would help the code be more uniform across
programmers.&nbsp; Maybe a place to start is a style guide?</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>Lahey will have an ELF90 syntax checker
available on our website Sept 14.&nbsp; We're all programmers, so
remember this is a prediction.</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face="arial" size=2>Any thoughts?</font><br>
<font face="arial" size=2>Tom</font></blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Since most of Fortran's users are scientists or engineers, it seems to me
that the best way to keep Fortran alive is to provide a product to the
Engineering, Physics and other sciences a set of teaching <br>
tools that would be hard to resist.&nbsp;&nbsp; I don't really know what
those tools are, but a decent set of Math functions would help.&nbsp; A
set of programs that are useful in teaching standard concepts and
techniques might be useful.&nbsp;&nbsp; What ever it is, it has to
provide added value of what they can get from C.&nbsp;&nbsp; Compile a
variety of freeware routines and (maybe even games) written in
Fortran.&nbsp;&nbsp; I have a ancient set of&nbsp; character routines
that have a text centering routine and simple routines to write out comma
delimited data.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I'm sure most of us have more useful
routines in their utilities libraries.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
<br>
As for myself, I think that it would be wonderful for someone to set up a
knowledge base for common Fortran errors and solutions.&nbsp;&nbsp; I
know that a lot of good information passes through this site, but there's
no one to catalog it and make it available to everyone.&nbsp; <br>
<br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Bob Cohen<br>
(703) 534-7618<br>
[address removed]

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