Description
There are several webpages, blogs, and articles, which try to debunk Fortran myths. I think having a QA section to help resolve misconceptions at Fortran-lang could be valuable.
Here are a few links:
- Myths | FortranWiki
- Debunking the myths about Fortran | ACM Fortran Forum (a PDF is available here)
- Fortran Myths & Disinformation Wanted | comp.lang.fortran
- Why do people think Fortran programs are hard to read? | Quora
- Why do people think Fortran is so bad? | Quora
- Will Julia replace Fortran for high performance computing? | Quora
- Is Fortran still used in 2021? | Quora
- THE MYTHS OF FORTRAN | The Craft of Coding (Michael Wirth has several very lucid essays about Fortran)
- Fortran is still a thing | Words and Buttons Online
- DEFY, DEmystify Fortran mYths | Szaghi
- In Numerical Computing with Modern Fortran, pg. 58, Hanson & Hopkins write,
... we attempt to convince the reader that Fortran recursion is an important and efficient programming technique. We will dispel some myths ...
- Why Fortran? | NCAR | DART
- Fortran: Tales of the Living Dead? | The Delocalized Physicist
- WHO SAID FORTRAN IS DEAD? | Hackaday
- 2.0.7 Dinosaurs | This Developer's Life
- The Joy of Fortran | OCEANOGRAPHER'S CHOICE
Roughly, I see two categories of misconceptions,
- those affecting programmers with little or no prior knowledge/awareness of Fortran
- those affecting Fortran programmers, who may only be familiar with a fraction of the standard
I was thinking about this topic while watching a lecture by Dan Saks on "Talking to C Programmers about C++". Here's a quote he refers to on several occasions:
“If you’re arguing, you’re losing.” — Mike Thomas
Some parts of the lecture are summarised here.
Perhaps by linking such an article in replies on HackerNews, Stack OverFlow, Quora, etc., we could slowly turn the tide against misinformation surrounding Fortran.