Posted on 03/20/2007 7:10:36 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
i hated fortran!
probably not as much as people now hate the whole windows development environment - oh for the simple days of Fortran, JCL, and punch cards.
So you liked COBOL?
And I'm sure you realized you wouldn't be reading this page if now were still the "simple days". Of course, but for those simple days, we wouldn't be reading this page.
fyi
COBOL followed quickly for business applications. FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation)was used primarily for number calculations. Those were the days indeed.
"The primary purpose of the DATA statement is to give names to constants; instead of referring to pi as 3.141592653589793 at every appearance, the variable PI can be given that value with a DATA statement and used instead of the longer form of the constant. This also simplifies modifying the program, should the value of pi change."
Gone to that great Do Loop in the sky...
R.I.P.
Fortran has been running our plant for over 25 years. The systems are scheduled to be replaced with SAP, which will provide 1000 times the code and 1/2 the functionality.
Some other FORTRAN jokes (from Wikipedia):
"GOD is REAL unless declared INTEGER."
Joke, circa 1980 (following the standardization of FORTRAN 77): "Q: What will the scientific programming language of the year 2000 look like? ... A: Nobody knows, but its name will be FORTRAN."
A good FORTRAN programmer can write FORTRAN code in any language.
Computer Science without FORTRAN and COBOL is like birthday cake without ketchup and mustard.
Ha!
I assume an announcement will be made if that happens!
LOL.. DO LOOPS...
been a long time since I heard that !!!
Fortran was my first language. It was math based and I spoke algebra pretty well so it was a comfortable language for me. Many of the concepts held up well when I later used Pascal and C.
That's a typical example of programmer humor.
Osborn's Law: Variables won't; constants aren't.
In college, I had a job programming in FORTRAN. It was about the most fun thing I ever did for money.
I used to dream in FORTRAN.
DO Loops,....one of the great inventions of all time...up there with the light bulb.
MACRO 11 Forever!
I wonder if they buried him "9 side down"
Before Fortran there was SOAP....Symbolic Optimizing and Programming....used on the IBM 650 whose memory was a rotating Drum....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.