myF2J

I came across an ad for a product myF2J that converts Fortran 77 to
readable Java (there is also the free f2j that I think is analogous to
f2c). The description below is from http://www.thecomputingfactory.com/servicef2j/f2jintroduction.html
.. They take some swipes at F77 but admit that expressing a
mathematical algorithm is simpler in it than Java, where "scientific
formulae are immersed inside complex software structures which require
computing education and maintenance". I'd rather program in Fortran
95, where expressing mathematical algorithms (especially involving
arrays) is even simpler than in F77, but for most IT people Fortran is
not on the radar screen.

"myF2J (or in short F2J ) is an internet service which allows its
users to employ Fortran 77 as an intermediary language to write
scientific code in Java. myF2J is based on the observation that a
scientific code follows a pattern: a tree of computation where
formulae are selected and evaluated following a tree. It views Fortran
as a "single object pattern" language. The produced Java classes by
myF2J are standard Java classes that can be used within any Java
context. The Java classes produced are "clean Java" and easy to edit
and/or transform.

To overcome the obsolete Input/Output and data base access of Fortran
77, myF2J provides a simple and transparent access to any Java class:
in that sense it is not just a translator but a bridge.

myF2J has a very simple interface and can be used by beginners in an
introductory lecture on computing science. Students can test their
first scientific code with Fortran without any Fortran compiler or
library being installed.

Scientific computation requires a language to express maths formulae,
where constant modifications are easy and transparent. The Fortran
language, in its F77 version, was the most common choice in the
scientific field to perform this task. But outside this field, F77 is
a language with poor or no capability ...

Universal languages such as C, C++ and Java allow the implementation
of any type of computer task. The price of universality is that
scientific formulae are immersed inside complex software structures
which require computing education and maintenance. To write a simple
scientific program to test an idea has become a hurdle and the
maintenance of large scientific codes a source of problems. These are
dealt with by limiting the allowed modifications.

myF2J was designed to get the best of both worlds."

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The Complexity of Software
    ... >that shows that Fortran code is simpler than Java? ... language without dynamic memory allocation. ...
    (comp.object)
  • Re: PL/I, COBOL, Advantages, Equivalence, et al
    ... I don't think that currently available versions of Fortran have the OO stuff implemented yet. ... Do the programmers have any OOP experience for when the 2003 features become available? ... Also, I've met quite a few Fortran programmers, but I know very few who really knew the language very well, and 77, for example, is not a very complicated language. ... COBOL shops are trying to go OOP with languages such as C++ and Java ...
    (comp.lang.pl1)
  • Re: PL/I, COBOL, Advantages, Equivalence, et al
    ... But why Fortran and not Ada or Java? ... COBOL shops are trying to go OOP with languages such as C++ and Java ... Language choice is about picking the right tool for the right job. ...
    (comp.lang.pl1)
  • Re: Fortran 90 and GUIs
    ... I slapped a Java front-end on to an existing Fortran code. ... especially the GUI parts of Java. ... further into using Python as the GUI language. ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)
  • Re: Comments from those devleoping niche software.
    ... I've written Fortran 95 programs ... > but very user-friendly analysis packages. ... > best of my knowledge as a bridge engineer) don't exist in any other ... Java would provide the business logic and front end. ...
    (comp.programming)
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