[mod.computers.vax] unFortranish

libes@nbs-amrf.UUCP (07/10/86)

Subject: Re: Re:  Re: sleep() & VMS vs. Unix
Newsgroups: mod.computers.vax
To: seismo!info-vax@sri-kl
References: <8607070737.AA19986@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>

>I don't really see the point here - all of these activities are
>very "unFortranish", and totally dependent on the system/Fortran
>interface (and the operating system features to some degree).

The first time I used VMS, I asked our system manager for help and
he gave me a book published by DEC called "Programming in VMS".  It
had examples of all the system calls in Macro.

I immediately starting calling my system manager dirty names,
whereupon he said, "Oh, sorry, that's an old version.  Here's the
new one, which has examples in a high-level language."  Well, guess
what language they were in.  Yes, Fortran.

At that instant, I began hating my system manager (and DEC) for his
incredible blindness towards modern programming techniques.  Well,
he is gone now (although our current system manager also codes
exclusively in Fortran) but every time I open that book to look at
examples, I still see Fortran.

I realize that other languages run under VMS (yes, interlanguage
calling standard and all that) but the fact that DEC supplies
examples of system interfacing in Fortran leads me to believe that
most users really do approach VMS through it.

So please don't tell us that the examples in this newsgroup were
"unFortranish".  We already know that.  It's DEC who doesn't.

Don Libes             {seismo,umcp-cs}!nbs-amrf!libes