FORTRAN Anecdotes

Anecdotes are an integral part of the historical record. They tell us much that cannot be conveyed in the formal documentation. Through these stories, we come as close as we ever will to re-creating the excitement of the project and to learning some vital things about the most important component of any historical event: the people who made it happen. The FORTRAN gathering was no exception. To the world, FORTRAN is a programming language. To the people who made it happen, it was an event.     

Serious FORTRAN

This paper is based on a set of lectures given at Cambridge, directed to those who intend to write FORTRAN programs which have more than a transient life. This first part deals with the implications of conforming to the ANSI standard when writing FORTRAN. The second part, which will appear in the next issue, deals with the problem of producing optimal programs, debugging techniques and a number of miscellaneous topics.     

Insecurities in FORTRAN DO-loops

Despite a long-established body of relevant computer science, lack of precise specification of certain aspects of FORTRAN and deviation from the published standards permit the construction of non-standard programs which run under different systems to give contradictory results. This paper highlights certain deviant features of DO-loops.     

Overhead in FORTRAN preprocessors

The quality of code generated by two commercially available FORTRAN preprocessors is examined. These preprocessors augment FORTRAN with ‘structured’ control structures such as the IF-THEN-ELSE and WHILE statements. Two versions of benchmark programs were written and tested, one version produced by the preprocessor, the other, performing the same computation, produced by careful hand-coding directly in FORTRAN. The code generated by the preprocessor and the code written directly in FORTRAN were then compiled. The resulting object modules were then compared for relative execution time and size. This experiment was repeated on three computers, and five compilers with various optimization levels. The results indicate that a substantial overhead in storage space may be paid by using a preprocessor rather than direct coding in FORTRAN, and that in some cases execution time may be increased somewhat by using a FORTRAN preprocessor.     

Multi-dimensional summations in FORTRAN

A general method of calculating multi-dimensional sums using the FORTRAN language is presented. In particular, a FORTRAN subroutine is given that calculates the required function arguments at each call. The usual arrangement of nested DO loops is discarded. The method makes it quite easy to change the dimensionality or range of the summation.     

MATLAB与FORTRAN接口技术

介绍了动态链接函数库MEX文件,MAT文件及MATLAB引擎的调用原理,利用MATIAB和FORTRAN接口技术实现FORTRAN程序计算结果的可视化过程。     

BenQ FP71E /FP785

过去的一段时间里,液晶显示器逐步开始取代传统CRT显示器的地位,但由于液晶本身的特性限制,与CRT显示器相比,色彩饱和度较低、色彩范围较窄,受到了不少用户的抱怨。为了改变这种状况,各液晶显示器生产厂商一直在液晶面板方面进行改进,同时也在显示器的电路中加入新的数字信号处     

Computer assisted teaching of FORTRAN

An interactive programming system (FCN) which was developed to assist the teaching of FORTRAN is decribed. The educational advantages to be drawn from the incremental compilation of FORTRAN programs are discussed; specialized subsystems that can be used for intensive training during the early stages of an introductory course are presented. The intended role of this programming system and its contribution to the curriculum are discussed.     

IBM FORTRAN Exhibit and Film

The exhibit, which included the film, was intended to commemorate the 25th anniversary of FORTRAN.