COMP-FORTRAN-90 is a "for experienced programmers only" e-mail list. Please do not sign on and expect other subscribers to teach you FORTRAN, because they're all busy people, and there are already plenty of FORTRAN classes, manuals, and online documents available. But if you already know FORTRAN and would like to exchange help with other programmers, this list is intensely valuable.
Whenever we review a list of this type, we like to throw in a little sample dialog culled from its archives. Like this...
[Subscriber One] wrote:
Neither "translate" nor "convert" would be appropriate terms - both imply a modification of the bits. "shoveitintoaboxthatlookslikethis" would have been a bit wordy...
..and [Subscriber Two] answered:
A bit wordy might be helpful here :-)
It seems there are two kinds of expections for TRANSFER():
1) "shoveitintoaboxthatlookslikethis", as it has been implemented by many compilers.
2) _caligrateitwithaboxthatlookslikethis_, as it has been mistaken by many Fortran programmers.
I am still not convinced that the latter applications can be totally replaced by other types of designs in large scale software systems, although I have tried to avoid it myself any way I can.
Is it also "theoretically obsolescent" as EQUIVALENCE? If so, what are the practical directions we should go? If not, is there a plan in Fortran to fill the hole?
Thanks!
signed, [Subscriber Two]
Either this exchange made sense to ou or it didn't. If it didn't, please don't bother with this mailing list. If it did -- and you have something to contribute to the comments you just read, go ahead and sign up.
The message volume here is highly variable, but rarely seems to go much below three posts per day, and equally rarely over ten. Most questions seem to get answered within 24 hours. There is a general tone of good humor to almost every exchange, and we saw no visible flames. All in all, an excellent group from all over the world, working hard to advance each other's knowledge.
|