Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!texbell!texsun!newstop!sun!road!khb
From: khb@road.Sun.COM (Keith Bierman - Advanced Languages - Floating Point Group )
Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Re: Miscellaneous Answers, Observations, etc.
Message-ID: <124108@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 2 Sep 89 00:25:58 GMT
References: <1651@convex.UUCP>
Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM
Reply-To: khb@sun.UUCP (Keith Bierman - Advanced Languages - Floating Point Group )
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 34

In article <1651@convex.UUCP> psmith@convex.com  (Presley Smith) writes:

>
>     So, why all the fuss about calling Fortran 8x FORTRAN Extended?
>     Seems to me that if FORTRAN 77 is really contained in FORTRAN 
>     Extended, then this issue should soon become a non-issue.  FORTRAN 
>     Extended compilers will appear on the market within the next 4 years.
>     Users will re-compile their code on them and execute it with no problems.
>     Most users will be so happy with the change to FORTRAN Extended that 
>     there will be no interest in re-affirming FORTRAN 77. 
>

Why is the current situation different than during the transition from
X3.9-196x to X3.9-197x ? 

Now we fear codes will break, then the transition forced them to
(hollerith data). 

Despite the '66 standard not having existed as such for many years,
folks sucessfully run them ... both on f77 platforms and on machines
with the old standard faithfully (more or less) maintained.

You have advanced cogent arguments against large projects trying to
convert overnight with the first f8x compilers to appear on the
market. You have explained carefully how errors may have crept into
the document. In a future posting would you please explain in what way
the industry has changed .. so that it is now necessary to support an
obsolete document, as opposed to the last "crank turn" of the language
standard.

Keith H. Bierman    |*My thoughts are my own. !! kbierman@sun.com
It's Not My Fault   |	MTS --Only my work belongs to Sun* 
I Voted for Bill &  | Advanced Languages/Floating Point Group            
Opus                | "When the going gets Weird .. the Weird turn PRO"