In this video I answer the question (at least for me), “Why Fortran?”
Hi @everythingfunctional, thanks for making the video. I also get the same question as you do when I tell people I work on a Fortran compiler.
My own attempts at expressing “Why Fortran” are in various forms at:
- https://lfortran.org/ (I consulted with many people)
- https://fortran-lang.org/ (this is a community attempt, with which I agree — I can’t remember if I influenced it or not)
- https://ondrejcertik.com/blog/2020/04/running-for-wg5-convenor-announcement/ (the second paragraph; consulted with many people)
- https://ondrejcertik.com/wg5/platform_and_experience.pdf (the first paragraph in the Platform section; consulted with many people)
They all essentially agree with your video.
In some sense, you brought up the ultimate metric — once people stop asking you “why” when you mention Fortran, then we have succeeded. I already see quite a remarkable change — too little to change the ship / direction significantly, but nevertheless I see a change in just the past year. We have to keep doing what we are doing, and we’ll be able to get people excited about Fortran eventually.
P.S. Almost forgot ---- congratulations on getting hired by Damian at the Sourcery Institute! I am very excited to see what both of you will be able to accomplish.
Thanks @certik. Yes, I’m excited to be working with Damian. I think we’re going to be able to do some fun and interesting things. And the community resurgence has (in my mind) been a dramatic sea change already. I’m certain you’ve played a significant part in that. And it’s a huge part of what made me confident that pursuing the career change would have a good chance at success. I like your point about that question being a metric. It’s a high hill to climb - I see C as the nearest example - but it will be a fun journey.
Thanks for making this video about Fortran