[mpich-discuss] Is it okay to remove F77 support?

[Jeffrey Layton]

I disagree. There is still F77 code around that has not been ported to a
more recent standard. I have some of that code myself and need to stay in
its present form (no updating).

Jeff


On Wed, Jan 27, 2021 at 1:53 PM Håkon Strandenes via discuss <
discuss at mpich.org> wrote:

> You must differentiate between Fortran 77 and fixed-form Fortran source
> code.
>
> I doubt there are any true Fortran 77 code around today.
>
> I am myself maintaining a large codebase written in Fixed Form Fortran.
> The code was probably Fortran 77 at some point 30-40 years ago, but not
> any more. Yet we still maintain parts in Fixed Form, though. This code
> is Fortran 2003 at minimum.
>
> I do not have the Fortran 2018 standard document around, but at least
> Fortran 2008 include fixed-form as an allowed source form (although
> marked as deprecated). For those interested, this is chapter 3.3 "Source
> form" in ISO/IEC 1539-1:2010.
>
> F77 can only be fixed form, but that does not make any fixed-form
> Fortran program F77. Fixed-form Fortran can be F2008 as well.
>
> This must be understood correctly for this discussion to be fruitful.
>
> Best regards,
> Håkon
>
> Den 2021-01-27 04:08, skrev Gus Correa via discuss:
> > IS IT OKAY TO REMOVE F77 SUPPORT?
> >
> > No, NO, NO!!!! NO!
> >
> > Removing the support to Fortran 77 from MPI is a disastrous idea!
> > Sorry to say, but it is really stupid to suppose that only because
> > compilers support F90
> > that you can remove F77 support from MPI.
> > A lot of people, academic institutions, and probably industry,
> > continue to use,
> > and develop new code in F77.
> >
> > What matters is if the CODE is written in Fortran 90 or in Fortran 77,
> > and whether it uses the Fortran 77 MPI API or the Fortran 90 MPI API,
> > not whether the compiler supports Fortran 90 (and yes, if not all,
> > do).
> >
> > There is an enormous Fortran 77 code base, written using MPI, and that
> > is not likely to change for the foreseeable future.
> > That is true in the Atmospheric/Climate/Ocean sciences, where I work,
> >
> >
> > but would guess this is true in other areas of science as well.
> > Just one example: The MITgcm, which has an huge community of users,
> >
> > is the backbone for many research projects, supports many PhD thesis,
> > is 100% written in Fortran-77 and will not be changed anytime soon,
> > as there is no financial support to do that.
> >
> > Also, this type of inquiry to the MPICH community is way too narrow.
> > I don't think you should be using emails on a mailing list to base
> > such a consequential decision.
> > Argonne should know better which community it supports, which codes
> > out there use MPI.
> >
> > Thank you,
> >
> > Gus Correa
> > Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
> >
> > On Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 6:12 PM Zhou, Hui via discuss
> > <discuss at mpich.org> wrote:
> >
> >> Dear MPICH community,
> >>
> >> Can we assume at this point of time, that every Fortran compiler out
> >> there supports Fortran 90 at least?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Hui Zhou
> >>
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