[Info-vax] Text processing examples with Fortran requested

[Bill Gunshannon]

In article <007b739a$0$1587$c3e8da3 at news.astraweb.com>,
	JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot at vaxination.ca> writes:
> 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.

Not even close.  The real reason is that now, any idiot with a PC can
write crap, distribute it and openly claim to be am IT Professional
and a Programmer.  It isn't the language.  The fact that the exact
same problems existed before C became the dominant language should be
proof enough of that.  A large majority of those Fortran programs
that I  had to fix had, in fact, been written by people who were not
professional programmers and the programs they wrote should never
have made it into production systems.  But they did and it took a
real programmer to find the bugs and fix them.

Now, should I bring up the Array Processor incident again to further
demonstrate the problem with considering amateurs as IY Professionals?

bill

-- 
Bill Gunshannon          |  de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n.  Three wolves
billg999 at cs.scranton.edu |  and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton   |
Scranton, Pennsylvania   |         #include <std.disclaimer.h>