Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!mtunb!dmt
From: dmt@mtunb.ATT.COM (Dave Tutelman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: cheap FORTRAN compilers
Keywords: are there any?
Message-ID: <1332@mtunb.ATT.COM>
Date: 7 Dec 88 18:05:35 GMT
References: <1357@nesac2.UUCP>
Reply-To: dmt@mtunb.UUCP (Dave Tutelman)
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs - Lincroft, NJ
Lines: 28

Lahey and P-Systems both make Fortrans in the vicinity of $100.
I shopped for "Turbo Fortran" last summer (wound up not buying anything),
and that's what the choice came down to.  I have no direct experience,
but my impressions from the brochure were:

   -	Lahey seems to be a Fortran specialist.  They make a number of
	>$400 products, and have a good rep in this niche.  Their
	"Personal Fortran" is a stripped-down version for under $100.
	Some limitations; I seem to remember small-model-only, but I'm
	sure there are others.

   -	P-Systems makes an environment that supports a number of languages,
	on a semi-interpreted basis (translates to P-code, then interprets).
	The environment plus one language came to about $100, if I recall.
	Fortran is one of the supported languages.  Pascal is another.

By the time I had all my information, I decided I didn't really need
Fortran after all.  However, if my need for a student Fortran had
persisted, I probably would have bought the Lahey product.

Hope this helps.

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