RE: [SPG_Active_Members] Wired.com: Oct. 15, 1956: Fortran ForeverChanges Computing's Fortunes

[Ronald Mak]

After my "day job" at IBM Research, I teach compiler writing and software
engineering classes at San Jose State University. For your amusement, I've
attached an e-mail that I sent last year to some of my faculty colleagues
about a "Fortran incident" in my software engineering class.

Of course, in my compiler class, I teach my students how to use BNF.

-- Ron

P.S.  Truly bizarre fact: I have John Backus's old office at IBM Almaden
Research Center.

P.P.S. No, there isn't a plaque by the door. In fact, you wouldn't know that
he ever worked here if it weren't for his former colleagues remembering him
(and telling me that I have the honor of inhabiting his old office).

Ronald Mak
Research Staff Member
PERCS Petascale Storage Subsystem
IBM Almaden Research Center

Department of Computer Science
San Jose State University
mak at cs.sjsu.edu
http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/~mak

-----Original Message-----
From: scc_active-bounces at computerhistory.org
[mailto:scc_active-bounces at computerhistory.org] On Behalf Of Van Snyder
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 7:08 PM
To: Paul McJones
Cc: scc_active at computerhistory.org
Subject: Re: [SPG_Active_Members] Wired.com: Oct. 15, 1956: Fortran
ForeverChanges Computing's Fortunes


On Wed, 2009-10-14 at 17:37 -0700, Paul McJones wrote:
> http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2009/10/1015fortran-launch
> 
> The reporter contacted me to ask for permission to use a photograph 
> from a match book cover John Backus had given to me, and also had a 
> few questions which I was happy to try to answer. The resultant story 
> has links to the Fortran archives at CHM and SPG.

To enlarge on Abell's "the propellerheads aren't done with Fortran...."

Since 1966, the year in which the standard that Computer Science professors
love to bash was published, there have been four revisions (and those same
professors gleefully proclaim that they're completely ignorant of their
contents).  A fifth will be published shortly.
Fortran standards are referenced by the year their technical content is
frozen, so the newest one will be called Fortran 2008.  ISO takes a while to
publish.  Fortran hasn't been spelt with all caps since 1990, so Wired.com
inadvertently got it right.

1977: Character variables, better support for I/O, structured programming,
....

1990: Modules, arrays, dynamic storage, free source form, ....  See "Fortran
90 Explained" by Metcalf and Reid.

1995: Mostly minor fixups  See "Fortran 90/95 Explained" by Metcalf and
Reid.

2003: Object oriented programming, C interoperability, Stream I/O, IEEE
arithmetic, .... See ftp://ftp.nag.co.uk/sc22wg5/N1601-N1650/N1648.pdf.
Also "Fortran 95/2003 Explained" by Metcalf, Reid and Cohen.

2008: SPMD parallel programming -- See
ftp://ftp.nag.co.uk/sc22wg5/N1751-N1800/N1787.pdf -- will be familiar to
those familiar with UPC, which got its inspiration from the predecessor of
this project, originally called F-- at Cray.  Performance enhancements, more
intrinsic functions, I/O improvements, ....  See
ftp://ftp.nag.co.uk/sc22wg5/N1701-N1750/N1735.pdf


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