Joint J3/WG5 meetings November 2008, May 2009: a reply to David Muxworthy

Abstract

While most of the minor items on the Fortran 2008 work list were completed (only the INTENT( SCRATCH) item was dropped), there were two major items that were dropped. These were the Generic Programming item (that had morphed into the Intelligent Macros item) and the new intrinsic BITS type. This was a substantial reduction of the scope of the work for Fortran 2008. Later, additionally, large parts of the coarrays item were removed to a TR. This was a second substantial reduction of the scope of the work for Fortran 2008. No one has said how delaying Fortran 2008 will make Fortran 2003 any easier to implement, or change the compiler vendors' estimates of their customers' priorities. Nor is there any indication that Fortran 2008 needs any general experience with Fortran 2003, since it is almost entirely a revision of Fortran 95 plus the TRs published between Fortran 95 and Fortran 2003; the TRs are now widely implemented.