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From: steve@jplgodo.UUCP (Steve Schlaifer x3171 156/224)
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: Make - What is Efl?
Message-ID: <750@jplgodo.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 30-Mar-86 01:12:21 EST
Article-I.D.: jplgodo.750
Posted: Sun Mar 30 01:12:21 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 2-Apr-86 02:41:06 EST
References: <121@graffiti.UUCP> <745@jplgodo.UUCP> <332@hadron.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Jet Propulsion Labs, Pasadena, CA
Lines: 32
Summary: what constitutes a pre-processor?

In article <332@hadron.UUCP>, jsdy@hadron.UUCP (Joseph S. D. Yao) writes:
> In article <745@jplgodo.UUCP> steve@jplgodo.UUCP (Steve Schlaifer x3171 156/224) writes:
> >In article <121@graffiti.UUCP>, bruce@graffiti.UUCP writes:
> >> What is 'Efl'.
> >EFL is a pre-processor for Fortran and stands for Extended Fortran Language.
> >It is a descendant of Ratfor.  It is described in a paper by Stuart I. Feldman
> 
> Actually, EFL differs from Ratfor in that it is  n o t  a pre-
> processor:  although it can produce Fortran (I think), it is a
> full compiler in and of itself.  

I suppose it depends on what you think of as a pre-processor.  I think of a
compiler as something that either generates very low level code (assembly
language) or the actual object file.  I think of something that translates from
one high level language to another (is Fortran high level? :-)) as a
pre-processor.  I guess you could consider it a compiler if it actually parses
and "understands" all of its input even if it then generates equivalent Fortran
afterwards.

> I am not entirely sure that
> Ratfor is really an ancestor, but the article is not before me.

The statement that EFL was a descendant of Ratfor was taken from the
documentation on EFL provided with my system (Ridge 32C running ROS 3.3).

-- 

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