Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!sun!boise.Eng.Sun.COM!wsb From: wsb@boise.Eng.Sun.COM (Walt Brainerd) Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran Subject: Re: Fortran Extended Standard Message-ID: <143525@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> Date: 9 Oct 90 18:58:00 GMT References: <502@kaos.MATH.UCLA.EDU> Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM Lines: 74 In article <502@kaos.MATH.UCLA.EDU>, pmontgom@euphemia.math.ucla.edu (Peter Montgomery) writes: > > I just received an announcement about a two-month public review > of X3.198-199x, Programming Language Fortran Extended. It says in part > > "Programming Language Fortran Extended was previously announced for > public review as a replacement for ANSI X3.9-1978, FORTRAN Language > Standard. Since that public review, it has been decided > that the Fortran Extended language will, when approved, be a > companion specification to ANSI X3.9-1978, not a replacement." > > Is this a new name for Fortran 8x? If not, does > anyone know 8x features are included here? > > Comments must be RECEIVED by December 18, 1990 > (just after my final exams ...). The document costs $70 > for domestic orders, and is available from Global Engineering > Documents, Inc., 2805 McGraw Ave., Irvine, CA 92714, > (714)261-1455 or (800)854-7179. > > If I spent as much time on my dissertation as I do reading news, I'd graduate. My personal advice is to devote most of your time to your dissertation. Here's why: Based on two American reviews and an international review, a revised draft of Fortran 90 is in the balloting process at the highest level in ISO. While all of this has been going on, X3 decided that Fortran 77 should be retained and what has been called Fortran 8x (now Fortran 90) should be an additional standard. They have decided to take the IDENTICAL document that ISO is balloting as Fortran 90, and call it "Fortran Extended". Since this is not replacing Fortran 77 as an American Standard, it must be considered a "new language" (this has nothing to do with how many new features have been added) and must have its own public review. Since, from a practical point of view, this document has been reviewed twice already, ANSI decided that a shorter review would be sufficient and would allow the comments from that review to be incorporated into the US position on the ISO Fortran 90 ballot. The biggest nightmare for users and vendors alike, I think, would be to wind up with an American "Fortran Extended" that is different in any regard whatsoever from the ISO Fortran 90. Though this last review opens up the possibility, most people are working very hard to ensure that it does not happen. So what can you do? IMHO, nobody is willing to consider significant technical changes at this point, such as removing pointers or putting EQUIVALENCE back on the obsolete list. Even minor technical changes, such allowing you to take the square root of 4 (I also have thought it is strange you can do this on your calculator, but not in Fortran) will probably not have much of a chance, even if they represent good ideas. There are two things that would be nice to send in: 1) descriptions of any real bugs you find in the description of the features and 2) your opinion about having Fortran Extended match identically the ISO standard Fortran 90. At this point, it is planned that X3J3 will meet in December right at the end of the ballot period to consider the comments as a part of preparing the US position on the ISO ballot. And even though the final adoption of a US position is voted only by US members, the position is usually based directly on a recommendation from X3J3, in which many people from outside the US participate. This means that if you can get your comments in a little early, they can be processed early, and it will make it easier to do the careful processing of all of them that is mandatory and desirable. I am assuming this makes everything crytal clear! Quiz at 11. -- Walt Brainerd Sun Microsystems, Inc. wsb@eng.sun.com MS MTV 5-40 Mountain View, CA 94043 415/336-5991