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Fortress: The Successor to Fortran?
An anonymous reader writes "A draft specification of the Fortress language was recently released. Developed by Sun Microsystems as part of a DARPA-funded supercomputing initiative, Fortress is intended to be a successor to Fortran. Guy Steele, a co-author of Java and member of the Fortress development team, hopes that Fortress will to 'do for Fortran what Java did for C.' Steele admits that Java isn't probably the best choice for numerical computing, and that 'it's a mistake to try to make a programming language that is all things to all people... because the needs are so diverse.' Fortress has a number of interesting features, including support for Unicode characters in code, enabling code to look more like formal mathematical expressions. More information about Fortress is given in interview with Steele, and in a talk by Steele. There's also some interesting commentary on Fortress, including some commentary by a member of the Fortress development team, in response to two stories at the programming languages weblog Lambda the Ultimate."
From the article: "Guy Steele leads a small team of researchers in Burlington, Massachusetts, who are taking on an enormous challenge -- create a programming language better than Java." I tried to think of a witty aside, but I realized I didn't have to.
#include ".signature"
Also at least one whitespace rule that will make Python's syntax look uncontroversial. ;-)
<Obligatory> Don't you just hate getting a story rejected and then seeing it posted from an AC several days later? :-( </Obligatory>
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
I don't think I want to learn this language...
Alright everybody. Man your Fortress!
One would assume that the successor to Fortran would be called either Nextran or Fivetran.
Times change. Fortresses fall. The fortress of FORTRAN must fall too. Let us weep for it.
that Guy Steele has no beard. According to a previous article (can't seem to be able to find it) on Slashdot, this means that this programming language will never become mainstream. When will new language designers realize that they need a beard to break through?
I like my dinosaurs feathery, and my pterosaurs hairy (or is it pycnofibery?)
b******s?
biscuits?
This programming language's name is obviously derived from my Slashdot nick. My SWAT team of highly-paid lawyers is examining a satellite photo of Sun's corporate headquarters, planning their legal assault.
If this prof writes code like he writes documents, i dont wanna see the results...
HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
No, the dog is rotating with the ass nearer to the center of rotation than the rest of the dog.
The 1337 H4x0r laughs at high level languages, as he hard codes his algorithms using a soldering iron and a pile of transistors.
On the rare occasion that the 1337 H4x0r uses a programming language, he won't be caught dead using a good language. He refuses to touch anything that actually helps write good software. No progress is allowed in the 1337 H4x0r's mind. Horrors like type checking or anything that prevents buffer overflows is "castration" to the 1337 H4x0r.
He will select the most cumbersome language he can find.
Because only that will let the 1337 H4x0r prove he is Da Man!
Good tools are for bad programmers. Good programmers use the worst tools they can find. Only that allows them to prove they are Real 1337 H4x0r.