Old Fortran

[Intel_C_Intel]

Dear Dr Fortran:

In the old days, just after punch cards (bend the punch cards fool the computer) I used Microsoft Fortran 3.13??. I ran thisgreat program on a Compaq Portable that I used to carry home on the bus. I could complie a small program and had enough time to boil a jug of water, make a cup of tea and have a scone, pronounced the Scottish way.

Now in the fifth iteration I have a Quad Core Q6600, Windows X64, Asus motherboard, raptor drive, 8 GB ram and a blinding fast graphics card. all in an Antec Sonata 111 box running VS 2008 and the latest Intel Fortran. I want to complain to the management - it is to fast, I want time to make tea and not feel guilty.

Bring back the punch cards and the one day turn around time on the mainframe. My kids knew me then.

Is that possible or should I just take another sip of whiskey?

John Nichols

[Steven_L_Intel1]

You could punch your own punch cards? Luxury! We had to chisel our programs onto stone coding forms and then ship them off to little-old-ladies who made the punch cards, then shipped them back to us, then we sent the cards in to be run and picked up the core dump the following week!

I might suggest adding lots of DATA statements - at present, that will slow the compiler down so you'll have time for a nice visit with the kidlets, but this won't work forever.

[rase]

Some pieces of advice how you possibly get time for a coffee break, or more, even with an Intel Q9550:
- Pick the right problem: at least NP-hard
- Choose the right algorithm: brute force, minimum memory requirements, wrong data structure, avoid obvious shortcuts
- Apply the adequate data volume: a traveller trying to visit every city in the world above 100 inhabitants in one trip, for example
A proper combination will increase the chances for a break long enough to prepare your cup of coffee.
Have fun, best regards, Wolf

[jimdempseyatthecove]

Wolf,

John was talking about compile time, not execution time of the application.

I've noticed that IVF will take long times to compile program modules that do not have loops but use rather long list of sequential statements (no conditional branching). By long times I am talking 10's of seconds on a Q6600. Enough time to pour a cup of coffiee but not brew tea or topronounce scones the Scottish way.

Jim Dempsey