-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORTRAN-90 (was 8x) Questionnaire SunFLASH Vol 15 #14 March 1990 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ( The product manager for SunFORTRAN would like to get input from FORTRAN users. Please respond via your Sun sales office or directly to Pondy . - johnj) Please respond directly to me and pass it on to peers in your organization who may be interested in responding to this. The Sun Fortran compiler along with its toolset has evolved into the industry's leading edge compiler in performance, robustness, and ease of use. With Fortran-90, the latest industry standard, around the corner we would like to take this opportunity to solicit feedback from anyone interested in the future of Fortran on Sun. I would really appreciate your feedback in whatever form. This will be an invaluable aid in helping us make the correct decisions so that we can continue providing you with the highest quality Fortran compilation and development system. Please contact me if you have any question at all. Pawan Rewari (Pondy) Fortran Product Manager PS: Please forward this to people in your organization who may be interested in responding. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Future directions of Fortran - Fortran-90 (was Fortran-8x). Please return all feedback to: e-mail pr@sun.com voice (415) 336-4651 land Pawan Rewari 2550 Garcia Av, MS 12/33 Mountain View, CA 94043 fax (415) 968-6396 Thanks, Pawan Rewari Fortran PM. Brief introduction to the ANSI std Fortran-90. ============================================== Since 1978, the technical committee responsible for the development of Fortran standards, X3J3, has been laboring to produce a much needed modern version of the Fortran programming language. The current ANSI standard is Fortran-77. The next ANSI revision is Fortran-90 (was called Fortran 8x till recently). The standard is expected to be finalized and approved by Fall 1990. We expect the NIST validation suite for Fortran-90 in the 1992 time-frame. Fortran-90 has three major areas of extension over ANSI Fortran-77: 1) Standardization of existing practices, 2 issues: - adoption of existing practice "as is" - incorporation of functionality using new syntax 2) Constructs for modular programming and better software engineering (eg. operator overloading, interface blocks). The new features are similar to those of other modern programming languages. 3) Novel features for improved numerical computation, with array constructors enabling direct manipulation of arrays Fortran-90 is upwards compatible with ANSI Fortran-77. Sun Fortran-77 is ANSI Fortran-77 with VMS extensions. The implementation of some Sun extensions, notably pointers and structures, are incompatible with the new standard. We solicit input from Sun's Fortran customers on the following: =============================================================== 1. Are you tracking the Fortran-90 standard ? If not would you want to attend Sun sponsored seminars on Fortran-90 ? 2. Fortran-90 functionality can be loosely described in the following classes of features. How would you rank them in order of importance to you ? Why ? (eg, f,c,d,e,b,a,g) a) New source form New control structures: DO ... END DO; SELECT CASE b) New data typing "structures" Dynamic memory allocation Pointers User defined types c) New "Module" facilities package logically related data and code new interface features: keyword argument passing, default arguments, operator overloading d) New array syntax and features enabling direct manipulation of arrays. e) IO changes namelist, nonadvancing IO f) Performance g) Tool to translate Sun Fortran-77 to Fortran-90 3. Do you plan on doing new code development in Fortran-90, as opposed to Sun Fortran-77 ? 4. Do you plan to convert your Fortran-77 programs that use constructs incompatible with Fortran 90 to an equivalent Fortran 90 construct, or do you plan on continued use of a FORTRAN-77 compiler? 5. The transition to Fortran-90 will not be seamless for any compiler that implements VMS extensions. ANSI has ratified X3.9-1978, so for the US there will be two Fortran standards in effect - (Fortran-77 and Fortran-90). Would you prefer that Sun provide: a) One Fortran compiler which is certified compliant to both standards and supports Sun Fortran-77 extensions (with a flag to specify which one to use) or b) Two separate compiler offerings: Sun Fortran-77 and Fortran-90. Please elaborate. 6. Do you expect Fortran-90 to become a checklist item for qualifying hardware vendors ? If yes, in what time frame ? (Given that the standard will probably be approved by end 1990 and the validation suite available in 1992). 7. What training requirements do you project for Fortran-90 ? What style of training do you prefer? Please rank your preferences for Fortran-90 training below: a) Self-training. b) Sun supplied self study courses. c) Sun "sponsored" training, onsite. d) Sun training, offsite. e) Rely on third parties, universities and etc. Please provide comments on any of these categories or any other suggestions. 8. How would you most like the Sun Fortran environment extended (again rank in priority, comment and feel free to add new things): a) a more Fortran aware debugger b) ability to debug optimized code c) parallel primitives of some flavor sensible to the Sun environment of the '90s d) fortran syntax directed editor e) listings with line numbers f) Fortran-90 style compiler g) Bindings to arbitrary Sun system libraries. h) flint - a fortran utility equivalent to C's lint. This list is not meant to be all inclusive, nor is it a commitment to provide any of these named tools. Feel free to add new items. Please provide explanations of your ranking. 9. General comments. (Feedback on current Fortran). 10. Can I get in touch with you to discuss your feedback ? Please provide the following information: Name : Company : Title : e-mail : Tel : Thank you very much for your participation. It should be borne in mind that this survey is part of our long range planning, and one or more releases may already have their functionality set. Your comments will be extremely useful in helping us to provide you with the right tools you need for Fortran programming in the future. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sunflash is an electronic mail news service from Sun Microsystems, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Please address comments to John McLaughlin (sun!sunvice!johnj or johnj@sunvice.sun.COM). (305) 776-7770.