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From: imp@crayview.msi.umn.edu (Chuck Lukaszewski)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Microsoft cuts corners, actually (they do!)
Summary: Oh, that reminds me of MS Fortran for the Mac!
Message-ID: <6846@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu>
Date: 22 Aug 88 02:02:31 GMT
References: <7988@cup.portal.com> <5832@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> <9250@cs.tcd.ie>
Sender: news@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu
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In article <9250@cs.tcd.ie>, omullarney@cs.tcd.ie (omullarney@csvax1.cs.tcd.ie) writes:
> We bought a MicroSoft Fortran compiler some time ago ($400-500) for the
> (gasp - wait for it) IBM PC (no, really, I use Mac's now). We were working

Thanks Oliver - The very first thing I should have criticized in my post last week
was Microsoft Fortran for the Mac.

We purchased Microsoft Fortran for one of the professors at the Minnesota Super-
Computer Institute, and I was given the task of converting to the Mac a couple of
pieces of Fortran courseware that ran on Sun workstations.  I sat down and got
to work and ran into problem after problem after problem.  To begin with, the
documentation was terrible.  By that I mean that basic things like execution
environment weren't even discussed, and the documentation on the linker, compiler,
etc was missing crucial details.  Then I discovered that, contrary to Microsoft's
advertising, many toolbox calls WERE NOT supported.  The first ones I ran into
were in QUICKDRAW of all places.  I ended up having to hack some 68000 trap invoc-
ations into the generated code in order to complete the project.

Well, I haven't had to touch Microsoft Fortran since then (I usually work in
680x0 or C), but I did hear something very relevant and very curious.  It seems
that Microsoft didn't actually do the compiler.  It was really a company called
Absoft, which makes Fortran compilers.  Fine.  Well, they have THREE versions of
a Fortran compiler for the Mac.  It is the low-end one that they sold to Micro-
soft.  Absoft sells on its own a product called Fortran/020 for the Mac which 
uses the IDENTICAL manual, but at least has all of the trap calls in it.  Looks
like Microsoft was shortchanged in addition to all of Microsoft's customers.
Perhaps better homework on Microsoft's part would have changed the situation, but
then again, they don't seem to be into checking products for bugs before they get
shipped.

Heh - we still haven't heard from the Microsoft boys yet on this particular
discussion.  I hope they're either planning a revolution or looking for new jobs.

---===---===---===---===--/* Chuck Lukaszewski */--===---===---===---===---
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