Xref: utzoo comp.lang.fortran:710 comp.lang.c:10576 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-sally!utastro!rlr From: rlr@utastro.UUCP (Randy Ricklefs) Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran,comp.lang.c Subject: Should I convert FORTRAN code to C? Keywords: language conversions, FORTRAN, c Message-ID: <2742@utastro.UUCP> Date: 6 Jun 88 13:11:47 GMT Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX Lines: 24 We will soon start porting software from a number of different sources to a micro-processor-based UNIX system. Most of the code is in various dialects of FORTRAN. The question that arises is whether to convert all this stuff to a more modern language, particularly c. This suggests several questions which I hope the NET readers will help answer (without starting a 100-years war on languages ... please! :-) ): 1) Are people actually initiating new projects in FORTRAN, or are they maintaining and porting old FORTRAN code? 2) Does the answer to 1) change if we restrict discussion to PC's & Macs? 3) Is c a suitable replacement for FORTRAN in terms of mathematical capabil- ities and portablility? 4) Are there reliable FORTRAN to c translators available under MS-DOS or UNIX that will allow moving over to c without re-coding the world? Thanks in advance for the help! Randy -- Randy Ricklefs uucp: {ut-sally, ut-ngp, noao, charm}!utastro!rlr arpa: rlr@utastro.UTEXAS.ARPA phone: (512) 471-1342