Differences between version 2 and predecessor to the previous major change of Fortran.
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| Newer page: | version 2 | Last edited on Saturday, August 23, 2003 10:57:10 am | by AristotlePagaltzis | Revert |
| Older page: | version 1 | Last edited on Sunday, August 17, 2003 3:29:49 am | by AristotlePagaltzis | Revert |
@@ -1 +1,5 @@
-An [Acronym] for __For__mula __Tran__slator - the
very first high level ProgrammingLanguage ever invented. To this day it is still the preferred language for number crunching applications.
+An [Acronym] for __For__mula __Tran__slator.
+
+The
very first high level ProgrammingLanguage ever invented. It was very limited in constructs, and the use of GOTO was very prevalent in [Fortran] programs. This prompted the hugely famous ''GOTO considered harmful'' article. The language has evolved over time, with current dialects supporting structured programming
. To this day it is still the preferred language for number crunching applications on supercomputers, for which [Fortran] [Compiler]s have been heavily optimized
.
+
+;: "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." %%% -- FORTRAN manual for Xerox computers
