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From: cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The joy of FORTRAN
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2024 17:12:30 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC
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In article <llfsmdFmmqaU8@mid.individual.net>,
Bob Eager  <news0009@eager.cx> wrote:
>On Tue, 24 Sep 2024 05:26:19 -0700, Lars Poulsen wrote:
>> On 23/09/2024 23:45, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>>>    Hey, want "Real Computing" ? Try FORTRAN or COBOL. THOSE were the
>>>    foundation and persist to this day. Wrote a FORTRAN app just a
>>>    couple of years ago - mostly to vex the New Guys. Also a short
>>>    COBOL app, that oughtta REALLY give 'em the shits !  :-)
>> 
>> Back in 1985, I changed jobs from a University computer center, where we
>> did our technical documentation using Univac's @DOC processor, to a
>> small industrial computer system integration firm, where we built
>> real-time systems on RSX-11M. I missed the @DOC so much that I wrote a
>> re-implementation in FORTRAN IV. Used it for years afterwards, until I
>> landed at a larger house doing communications work on Unix, and switched
>> to /troff/.
>
>I can't remember who originally wrote it, but I came across a version of 
>'ed' (the standard UNIX editor, none of this visual stuff) written in 
>FORTRAN.

The first "Software Tools" book by Kernighan and Plauger was
written using "ratfor" as the example language; `ratfor` is a
"rational FORTRAN" frontend that took a semi-structured language
as input and emitted properly-formed FORTRAN code as output.

They implemeneted an ed-like editor in ratfor for Software
Tools.  It wouldn't surprise me if the editor you saw was that,
or something derived from it.

>I made it work on a GEORGE 3 ICL system, and on something else. It was 
>infinitely superior to the manufacturer's offering.

Cool.

	- Dan C.