Re: Fortran to Ada

[Bob Crispen <crispen@EIGHT-BALL.HV.BOEING.COM>]

>From: paul@gta.com (Paul Emerson) asks:

>I don't normally read this group but I have an ADA question.  Someone in my
>organization has inquired about a tool to convert Fortran to ADA.  Does such
>a tool(s) exist?  Any pointers would be most helpful.

We concluded in the Ada Simulation Validation Program in 1987 that when
you have Fortran code, it's nearly always worthwhile to redevelop it
rather than recoding it.  Alternately, you can put an Ada wrapper
around a LARGE chunk of Fortran.  Forget interfacing a bunch of small
chunks of Fortran -- it's not worth the aggravation.

Whenever we've ignored our own lessons learned (jeez, none of YOU guys
have ever done THAT ;-) and tried to re-code (that is, convert from line
to line, Fortran to Ada) we've created a nest of bugs that take forever
to find and fix.  When we redevelop, we find that previously annoying
but non-fatal bugs which have existed in the Fortran code since
time immemorial have now mysteriously disappeared.

Your mileage may vary, but I doubt it.
+-------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Bob Crispen                   |   Who will babysit the babysitters?  |
| crispen@foxy.hv.boeing.com    +--------------------------------------+
| (205) 461-3296                |Opinions expressed here are mine alone|
+-------------------------------+--------------------------------------+