Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!uflorida!travis!bill From: bill@ssd.csd.harris.com (Bill Leonard) Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran Subject: Re: Fortran compiler test Message-ID: Date: 22 Oct 90 21:22:49 GMT References: <1990Oct18.160412.8187@virtech.uucp> <6662@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> <1990Oct19.012745.7875@virtech.uucp> Sender: news@travis.csd.harris.com Organization: Harris Computer Systems Division Lines: 46 In-reply-to: cpcahil@virtech.uucp's message of 19 Oct 90 01:27:45 GMT In article <1990Oct19.012745.7875@virtech.uucp> cpcahil@virtech.uucp (Conor P. Cahill) writes: Looks like someone is going to have to do alot of recoding. (Let this be an example of why you shouldn't use compiler-specific extensions) Grrrrrr, I really get irritated when I hear this statement. First, if no one used vendor extensions, ever, then the only way you would ever get new language features is either with a brand-new language or by having some committee (like X3J3) design it for you without any idea of how well it will work or serve the intended purpose. Vendor extensions give the marketplace (i.e., the users) a chance to decide what features they like and which one they don't. Having said that, I would certainly advise a user not to use a vendor extension IF: a) other vendors in that segment of the market do not offer the same or at least similar extension, or b) the user does not have sufficient "clout" to force the next vendor to implement the same extension. It is not necessary that EVERY vendor support an extension unless you really plan to buy systems from every one of them (which is highly unlikely). If, for instance, your systems are primarily doing accounting and payroll tasks, you are unlikely to buy systems from a real-time vendor. I've observed that certain market segments make unique demands on programming languages, and vendors that are leaders in each segment usually implement about the same set of extensions. In fact, the vendor that does not implement the extensions that are popular with users in his market quickly finds himself losing business to those that do. Therefore, you are usually pretty safe in using those extensions. Where you will get in trouble, though, is using an extension that is not specific to a particular market and/or is not widely implemented. However, if the extension is the only (convenient) way to get the job done, then you have the uncomfortable choice of either writing non-standard code or using some other equally onerous solution. If you happen to be a large corporate user that buys millions of dollars worth of machines each year, probably you can "persuade" other vendors to implement your extension; otherwise, you have to either hope other users will like and promote it, or that you won't have to change vendors for awhile. :-) -- Bill Leonard Harris Computer Systems Division 2101 W. Cypress Creek Road Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 bill@ssd.csd.harris.com