[Info-vax] Learning VMS application programming

[Paul Sture]

On 2014-09-07, Phillip Helbig---undress to reply <helbig at astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de> wrote:
> In article <dh3udb-cop1.ln1 at news.chingola.ch>, Paul Sture
><nospam at sture.ch> writes: 
>
>> >>>> I never saw Fortran used for systems programming before.
>> >>> 
>> >>> Fortran is not used for system programming on VMS.   It's an 
>> >>> application-programming language.
>> >>> 
>> >>> C, Bliss and Macro32 assembler are most commonly used for system-level 
>> >>> programming on VMS.
>> > I'm using "system programming" to refer to "operating system 
>> > programming", as differentiated from application systems.  That is, I'm 
>> > referring to the languages used for OpenVMS device drivers, kernel-mode 
>> > code, and related programs.
>
> While that might be the case, I don't think there is any inherent reason
> why Fortran could not be used for system programming on VMS, at least
> with VMS-specific extensions (which applies to the other languages as
> well).  One of the strengths of VMS is that many languages are treated
> on an equal footing.  Apart from C, Bliss and Macro32, IIRC there is 
> some Pascal, some PL/I and so on.

Hoff's mention of its unsuitability for "operating system programming"
has jogged my memory.  In 1981 we discovered that the FORTRAN compiler
we were using generated its own variables for DO loops, putting them
in $LOCAL, and not in the data section the DO loop variable lived in.
Since we were doing our own multithreading, this caused the odd problem :-)
(solution: save $LOCAL on a thread switch, with the overhead that carried)

-- 
Nothing says poor craftsmanship more than wrinkled duct tape.