Re: Fortran article in Wikipedia

From: Walt Brainerd (walt_at_fortran.com)
Date: 01/03/05

  • Next message: Andy Nelson: "Re: Opinions on PGI vs. Lahey Fortran" 
    Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 12:03:35 -0700
To: beliavsky@aol.com

    beliavsky@aol.com wrote:

    > I have been editing the Fortran article in the Wikipedia at
    > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortran , adding information about Fortran
    > 90/95/2003. It would be nice if the many experts here could improve it.
    >
    > There is one section in the "History, versions, and revisions" section
    > I am skeptical of: "IBM's versions [of Fortran] were never as popular
    > as those developed by others, which was especially true of FORTRAN
    > IV-WATFOR, the version of FORTRAN IV developed at the University of
    > Waterloo, Canada, was universally preferred because it produced better
    > reports of compilation errors. The software for automatically
    > generating flow charts from FORTRAN programs was also developed outside
    > IBM." I would like to delete these claims ("universally preferred"),
    > for which sources are not given, unless an old-timer can confirm them.

    Two other odd things about the article:

    FORTRAN IV has never been a standard

    It mentions some syntactic quirks, but does not mention
    two syntactic characteristics superior (I think) to most
    "modern" languages, but shared by shell scripts (for
    example): significance of end-of-line and the keyword/
    end-keyword structure of much of the syntax.

    [stuff snipped] 

    -- 
Walt Brainerd         +1-877-355-6640 (voice & fax)
The Fortran Company   +1-520-760-1397 (outside USA)
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