Lahey Support
08-15-2003, 01:33 AM
[An edited/censored version of my direct reply to Tom is posted below]
-----Original Message-----
From: Hargraves Gary
Sent: Wednesday, 29 August 2001 11:20
To: 'Thomas M. Lahey'
Subject: RE: [LF] Improving Fortran's Viability
Hi again
[....... ]
On Fortran popularity, I am firmly of the view that reinstitution of the
free ELF compiler (or f77) + the Fujitsu debugger is the tonic that Lahey
and Fortran needs.
Closely followed by a rewrite of the user manuals.
Offer it to the universities of USA, UK, and Australia (specifically by
mailout), the schools, the colleges ... in the trenches, on the beaches
...
Then your Knuth tools, and possibly some sort of very lean GUI, a la
Terence Wright.
Currently there seems to be no alternative to the 'great abstraction' of
'.NET' , or the Windows overkill of [.......] .
It seems to me that there are some numeric/physical truths in computing that
require the maintenance of an element of purity and rigour - if not
simplicity.
If people do not understand the limitations of the machine, then how can
they rely on the results.
To paraphrase Monty Python, programmers are at risk of losing the plot (and
disappearing) in a cloud of logic.
Gaz
-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas M. Lahey [address removed]
Sent: Wednesday, 29 August 2001 04:23
To: [address removed]
Subject: [LF] Improving Fortran's Viability
Hi,
I've been thinking about what could a group of Fortran programmers do to
improve Fortran's popularity.
An idea whose time may have come: Write Knuth algorithms in ELF90 and make
the code available on the web.
I suggest ELF90 because it would lead to a discipline that would help the
code be more uniform across programmers. Maybe a place to start is a style
guide?
Lahey will have an ELF90 syntax checker available on our website Sept 14.
We're all programmers, so remember this is a prediction.
Any thoughts?
Tom
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************************************************** **********************
-----Original Message-----
From: Hargraves Gary
Sent: Wednesday, 29 August 2001 11:20
To: 'Thomas M. Lahey'
Subject: RE: [LF] Improving Fortran's Viability
Hi again
[....... ]
On Fortran popularity, I am firmly of the view that reinstitution of the
free ELF compiler (or f77) + the Fujitsu debugger is the tonic that Lahey
and Fortran needs.
Closely followed by a rewrite of the user manuals.
Offer it to the universities of USA, UK, and Australia (specifically by
mailout), the schools, the colleges ... in the trenches, on the beaches
...
Then your Knuth tools, and possibly some sort of very lean GUI, a la
Terence Wright.
Currently there seems to be no alternative to the 'great abstraction' of
'.NET' , or the Windows overkill of [.......] .
It seems to me that there are some numeric/physical truths in computing that
require the maintenance of an element of purity and rigour - if not
simplicity.
If people do not understand the limitations of the machine, then how can
they rely on the results.
To paraphrase Monty Python, programmers are at risk of losing the plot (and
disappearing) in a cloud of logic.
Gaz
-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas M. Lahey [address removed]
Sent: Wednesday, 29 August 2001 04:23
To: [address removed]
Subject: [LF] Improving Fortran's Viability
Hi,
I've been thinking about what could a group of Fortran programmers do to
improve Fortran's popularity.
An idea whose time may have come: Write Knuth algorithms in ELF90 and make
the code available on the web.
I suggest ELF90 because it would lead to a discipline that would help the
code be more uniform across programmers. Maybe a place to start is a style
guide?
Lahey will have an ELF90 syntax checker available on our website Sept 14.
We're all programmers, so remember this is a prediction.
Any thoughts?
Tom
************************************************** **********************
The information in this e-mail together with any attachments is
intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed
and may contain confidential and/or privileged material.
Any form of review, disclosure, modification, distribution
and/or publication of this e-mail message is prohibited.
If you have received this message in error, you are asked to
inform the sender as quickly as possible and delete this message
and any copies of this message from your computer and/or your
computer system network.
************************************************** **********************