On 01/04/2019 10:45 AM, Peter J. Holzer wrote:
FORTRAN is older than most of us. So it influenced what we think a computer language should sound like.
Sadly, not for all of us... FORTRAN seeded later languages with terms that are obscure, like rewind(). A blazing powerhouse like the IBM System 360/30 had at most 64k of core, and by that I mean real magnetic core knit by little old ladies. It also had massive tape drives. By massive I mean 1/2" tape on 10" spools, not that they could hold that much data.
Anyway for something like a Fast Fourier you wrote a partial products to tape, rewound the tape, took another pass, rinse and repeat. It was a joy.
While FORTRAN definitely had some influence, particularly on BASIC, don't give it too much credit. It had little gems like the computed goto. It took until Fortran 90 to allow such novelties as lower case and free form input. Prior to that it still assumed you were using Hollerith cards. I don't think it ever moved beyond the DO loop.
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