Comments on: Fortran’s 50th Birthday http://notes.dpdx.net/2006/10/15/fortrans-50th-birthday/ Fluid Dynamics, Computer Simulations, and Assorted Tinkering Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:24:52 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Brooks http://notes.dpdx.net/2006/10/15/fortrans-50th-birthday/comment-page-1/#comment-284 Brooks Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:26:53 +0000 http://notes.dpdx.net/2006/10/15/fortrans-50th-birthday/#comment-284 Fortran, unfortunately, has a bit of a legacy image problem. In my experience, most computer-science-major programmers are completely unfamiliar with any versions of the language later than the 1977 standard, if even that recent; a lot of legacy codes use idioms that were obsolete even then. That version of the langauge certainly only survives today because of the big legacy codes. On the other hand, the modern version of the language is about as close to that as C# is to C, and in my opinion it's quite competitive on its merits, at least in the realm of number-crunching. Fortran, unfortunately, has a bit of a legacy image problem. In my experience, most computer-science-major programmers are completely unfamiliar with any versions of the language later than the 1977 standard, if even that recent; a lot of legacy codes use idioms that were obsolete even then. That version of the langauge certainly only survives today because of the big legacy codes.

On the other hand, the modern version of the language is about as close to that as C# is to C, and in my opinion it’s quite competitive on its merits, at least in the realm of number-crunching.

]]> By: gs http://notes.dpdx.net/2006/10/15/fortrans-50th-birthday/comment-page-1/#comment-283 gs Mon, 16 Oct 2006 20:31:52 +0000 http://notes.dpdx.net/2006/10/15/fortrans-50th-birthday/#comment-283 "There’s an old joke that, in a hundred years, programmers will be using a language that’s completely unrecognizable to modern users — and it will be called “Fortran”." The computer-science-major programmers I deal with deride Fortran on the rare occasions when they mention it at all. I've heard it said that the language survives only because of all the big legacy codes that are written in it: I once worked with a 'Fortran archeologist' whose job security lay in his ability to get old, ill-documented, long-unused codes to run. Does Fortran remain competitive on its merits? “There’s an old joke that, in a hundred years, programmers will be using a language that’s completely unrecognizable to modern users — and it will be called “Fortran”.”

The computer-science-major programmers I deal with deride Fortran on the rare occasions when they mention it at all. I’ve heard it said that the language survives only because of all the big legacy codes that are written in it: I once worked with a ‘Fortran archeologist’ whose job security lay in his ability to get old, ill-documented, long-unused codes to run. Does Fortran remain competitive on its merits?

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