Why is FORTRAN cool again?
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I like to check the tiobe index http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html[^] every once in awhile to see what the trends are and usually it's pretty easy to explain why a language is rapidly gaining in popularity. For instance Objective-C is benifiting from the Iphone and Go is a new language so probably people are curious/trying it out. But I was suprised to find Fortran has almost doubled it's share since last year and is in the top 20 now. Is "real programming" coming back in style or something http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html[^] :laugh:?
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I like to check the tiobe index http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html[^] every once in awhile to see what the trends are and usually it's pretty easy to explain why a language is rapidly gaining in popularity. For instance Objective-C is benifiting from the Iphone and Go is a new language so probably people are curious/trying it out. But I was suprised to find Fortran has almost doubled it's share since last year and is in the top 20 now. Is "real programming" coming back in style or something http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html[^] :laugh:?
That old "real programmers" document is talking about Fortran 77 or earlier. Since then, there have been Fortrans 90, 95, 2003. These now include all those structured features which make it difficult for end-user mathematicians to match the source code with their algebra and flow-charts. But current Fortran compilers can compile original F77 programs! Fortran features backward-compatibility. I maintain Fortran programs originally written in the 1980s for obsolete computers with obsolete operating systems, but the programs continue to work correctly. The only real change is that the user-interface needs tweaking with each migration to a new operating system. Hardware comes and goes. Operating systems come and go. But some software needs to go on forever .... :) The biggest problem for long-term Fortran maintenance is that data files become inaccessible as their storage media become obsolete. Paper tape, punched cards, big disks, data cassettes, zip drives, 8-inch diskettes, 5.25 inch diskettes, now 3.5 inch diskettes ... It is a race against technological innovation to move the data from one storage medium to another. And don't trust other people to look after your data and back-up files for you. They can be gone like a cloud in the winds of time.
Mike L.
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I like to check the tiobe index http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html[^] every once in awhile to see what the trends are and usually it's pretty easy to explain why a language is rapidly gaining in popularity. For instance Objective-C is benifiting from the Iphone and Go is a new language so probably people are curious/trying it out. But I was suprised to find Fortran has almost doubled it's share since last year and is in the top 20 now. Is "real programming" coming back in style or something http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html[^] :laugh:?
When exactly was the three-way IF statement not cool?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I like to check the tiobe index http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html[^] every once in awhile to see what the trends are and usually it's pretty easy to explain why a language is rapidly gaining in popularity. For instance Objective-C is benifiting from the Iphone and Go is a new language so probably people are curious/trying it out. But I was suprised to find Fortran has almost doubled it's share since last year and is in the top 20 now. Is "real programming" coming back in style or something http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html[^] :laugh:?
:sigh: Do you realize the way they measure language usage is just silly beyond silly? It's like saying world wide corned beef production is up 3000% because 7 penguins died due to red devil attacks. Its all a farce I tell you and this has to come up in the lounge every so often. I think Rama Guru would back me up on this.
If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Current activities: Book: Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?
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I like to check the tiobe index http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html[^] every once in awhile to see what the trends are and usually it's pretty easy to explain why a language is rapidly gaining in popularity. For instance Objective-C is benifiting from the Iphone and Go is a new language so probably people are curious/trying it out. But I was suprised to find Fortran has almost doubled it's share since last year and is in the top 20 now. Is "real programming" coming back in style or something http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html[^] :laugh:?
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Really?!?
1 Java 17.509%
2 C 17.279%
3 PHP 9.908%
4 C++ 9.610%
5 VB 6.574%
6 C# 4.264%I found it surprising! How do they get this result anyway?
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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The number of hits in google, yahoo, etc, etc. :rolleyes: IIRC they massage it somewhat, but that's ultimately what it comes down to.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
mm... C++ should be before C then, as it is so much more error prone! :laugh:
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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I like to check the tiobe index http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html[^] every once in awhile to see what the trends are and usually it's pretty easy to explain why a language is rapidly gaining in popularity. For instance Objective-C is benifiting from the Iphone and Go is a new language so probably people are curious/trying it out. But I was suprised to find Fortran has almost doubled it's share since last year and is in the top 20 now. Is "real programming" coming back in style or something http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html[^] :laugh:?
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I like to check the tiobe index http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html[^] every once in awhile to see what the trends are and usually it's pretty easy to explain why a language is rapidly gaining in popularity. For instance Objective-C is benifiting from the Iphone and Go is a new language so probably people are curious/trying it out. But I was suprised to find Fortran has almost doubled it's share since last year and is in the top 20 now. Is "real programming" coming back in style or something http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html[^] :laugh:?
Functional Programming and Parallelism Support perhaps. http://cs.gmu.edu/cne/pjd/PUBS/CACMcols/cacmJun10.pdf[^] Microsoft has introduced F# for this. Several others exist. Some dialects of Fortran may still be ahead in completness and performance. Seems plausible to me.
"Coding for fun and profit ... mostly fun"
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From the link: * No Real Programmer works 9 to 5. (Unless it's the ones at night.) * Real Programmers don't wear neckties. * Real Programmers arrive at work in time for lunch. * Real Programmers don't know how to cook. Grocery stores aren't open at three in the morning. Real Programmers survive on Twinkies and coffee. Matches my traits! BTW, it's surprising how FORTRAN usage has increased. :)
“Follow your bliss.” – Joseph Campbell
Oh my... It is a stereotype... I thought I was lazy by getting to work late... Good thing this is a good thing :-D
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I like to check the tiobe index http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html[^] every once in awhile to see what the trends are and usually it's pretty easy to explain why a language is rapidly gaining in popularity. For instance Objective-C is benifiting from the Iphone and Go is a new language so probably people are curious/trying it out. But I was suprised to find Fortran has almost doubled it's share since last year and is in the top 20 now. Is "real programming" coming back in style or something http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html[^] :laugh:?
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You mean besides the computed GO TO?
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
Ah, a connoisseur. It's really the only statement you need.
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Functional Programming and Parallelism Support perhaps. http://cs.gmu.edu/cne/pjd/PUBS/CACMcols/cacmJun10.pdf[^] Microsoft has introduced F# for this. Several others exist. Some dialects of Fortran may still be ahead in completness and performance. Seems plausible to me.
"Coding for fun and profit ... mostly fun"
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I concur. Parallel is all the rage. Fortran for the Crays and IBM vector processors had parallel extensions 25 years ago!
I started with Fortran II about then. I just downloaded and installed Fortran 95 from silverfrost. It comes with Visual Express. There is serious work being done with this product. It is free form with object support, .NET, etc., etc. If you are interested http://www.silverfrost.com/default.aspx[^]
"Coding for fun and profit ... mostly fun"
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The number of hits in google, yahoo, etc, etc. :rolleyes: IIRC they massage it somewhat, but that's ultimately what it comes down to.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
If that is so.. then the stats reflect the most popular language, that is being learned at the moment. I was under the illusion they reflected the most popular languages, that are desired in the job market at the moment. I also noticed, in the list of real programmers, qualifications, that it didn't mention anything about taking full advantage of the the Ballmer Peak.[^]
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:sigh: Do you realize the way they measure language usage is just silly beyond silly? It's like saying world wide corned beef production is up 3000% because 7 penguins died due to red devil attacks. Its all a farce I tell you and this has to come up in the lounge every so often. I think Rama Guru would back me up on this.
If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Current activities: Book: Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?
Man, that's a mean sounding hockey game just to get that Irish food.
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When exactly was the three-way IF statement not cool?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Three-way IF statement became uncool when FORTRAN-77 introduced IF THEN ELSE statements. (I helped implement them for FORTRAN on TOPS-10/20, which was written in Bliss-10...)
You have it backwards. It became cooler when that new-fangled IF-THEN-ELSE verbosity was introduced.
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I like to check the tiobe index http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html[^] every once in awhile to see what the trends are and usually it's pretty easy to explain why a language is rapidly gaining in popularity. For instance Objective-C is benifiting from the Iphone and Go is a new language so probably people are curious/trying it out. But I was suprised to find Fortran has almost doubled it's share since last year and is in the top 20 now. Is "real programming" coming back in style or something http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html[^] :laugh:?
Fortran is never cool, but it is still very very useful.
ragnaroknrol: Yes, but comparing a rabid wolverine gnawing on your face while stabbing you with a fountain pen to Vista is likely to make the wolverine look good, so it isn't exactly that big of a compliment.
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Those of us that are required to come with interplanetary trajectories to other planets often care about such archaic languages :)
ragnaroknrol: Yes, but comparing a rabid wolverine gnawing on your face while stabbing you with a fountain pen to Vista is likely to make the wolverine look good, so it isn't exactly that big of a compliment.