[Info-vax] Text processing examples with Fortran requested

[JF Mezei]

Bill Gunshannon wrote:

> Just a wild guess.  I was fixing "buffer overflows" in Fortran (and COBOL)
> 30 years ago, long before I mastered C.

30 years ago, the vast majority of computing involved data processing
and number crunching (scientific).

Today, vast majority of computing involves string management and
interaction with humans in a flow of logic dictated by the human. 30
years ago, you didn't have browsers with plug ins that interact with a
remote web site whicgh provides variable length data, some of which can
be very big. The plug in is attached to the web browser and treats some
of that data too.

Fortran, like Cobol, has not participated in this change. C and C++
have, and while some would like to blame the language, the real reason
is that the type of programs handled by C and C++ are quite different
than the Fortran/Cobol programs of years past where logic was far
simpler since they preocessed properly structured data.