Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!orion.oac.uci.edu!ucivax!levine
From: levine@liege.ics.uci.edu (David Levine)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Re: F90 compiler from NAG
Message-ID: <28660D45.4578@ics.uci.edu>
Date: 24 Jun 91 15:18:29 GMT
References: <1991Jun24.005145.865@convex.com>
Organization: UC Irvine Department of ICS
Lines: 30
Nntp-Posting-Host: liege.ics.uci.edu

Presley Smith writes:

>There is a standard definition available from ANSI as to what is a
>"compiler" and what is a "translator."   The best way to sort out
>what to call the NAG product is for someone to find a copy of that
>document and put those definitions on the net.

Unfortunately, ANSI/IEEE Std 729-1983 (IEEE Standard Glossary of
Software Engineering Terminology) doesn't help much:

   compiler. A computer program used to compile.(ISO)  Contrast with
   assembler, interpreter.

   compile. To translate a higher order language program into its
   relocatable or absolute machine code equivalent.  Contrast with
   assemble, interpret.

   translator. A program that transforms a sequence of statements
   in one language into an equivalent sequence of statements in
   another language.  See also assembler, compiler, interpreter.

In general, I refer to a translator as a compiler if it does more than
just textual substitution.  For example, modern compilers are based on
an analysis/synthesis process.  It sounds to me like the NAG F90 product
goes this route, and so I call it a compiler.

--
David L. Levine, Dept. of ICS             Internet: levine@ics.uci.edu
University of California, Irvine                BITNET: levine@ucivmsa
Irvine, CA 92717                            UUCP: ucbvax!ucivax!levine