4 ms·
Our physics group has a core library, first written in 1987, that is in Fortran (a Microsoft dialect, to be specific). Why haven't we moved to something else?
by ISL 9y ago
Our physics group has a core library, first written in 1987, that is in Fortran (a Microsoft dialect, to be specific).
Why haven't we moved to something else? It works, it is time-tested, and the original author continues to maintain it.
(P.S. I'd like to compile it with the gfortran tools, in order to preserve the library for the future. Is there any documentation for simple conversions from Microsoft's implementation of the language to the more-traditional spec?)
- craftyguy 9y ago> and the original author continues to maintain it. What's the plan when they retire?
- cratermoon 9y agoIs MS Fortran still a supported product? I'm not sure I'd call software that depends on unsupported and unmaintained other software properly maintained.
- ryl00 9y agoI may be mistaken but I believe the Intel Fortran compiler supports the MS Fortran extensions
- pletnes 9y agoThere are some caveats AFAIK. Intel changed some default behaviors. I believe you can change them with a command line switch though. Of note is the SAVE property on all local variables being the default on MS. Now that’s an insane default if there ever was any!
- cratermoon 9y agoSounds like it's "legacy" or "heritage" supported, which is not a good place to be. Yeah, it still manages to work, and it's available for use because it costs Intel effectively nothing to leave an installer up on the web for download, but there's no real "support". That's not a piece of software I'd want to tie my code to.
- ISL 9y agoInteresting -- I'll look into it. Is it open-source (in the spirit of future-proofing)? Answering my own question: It doesn't appear to be.
- ryl00 9y agoIt's not, unfortunately. But how are you "keeping the lights on" with your old MS Fortran based code? Still using an ancient Powerstation? compiler, or Compaq Visual Fortran, or ... ?
- ISL 9y agoWe're still running the old compiler, probably within DOSBox or something similar. There are one or two boxes on which the executable can currently be built.
- ISL 9y agoMy hope is to release it in a form that can be compiled by open-source tools.
- noobermin 9y agoA problem for computational science is people care about their publications more than people being capable of reproducing their work. The funny thing is an open source code is a sure way to attain a legacy.