FORTRAN zinda hai!

When I recently came across a YouTube video which says FORTRAN has returned to the top 10 programming languages on TIOBE list for 2024 (https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/). By the way, the great granny of Programming language C is still in the top 5 list. (Link to Video: https://youtu.be/b2GZ540Fj4U?si=XvHjstmdDkgRMFAw).

I was unaware that such a list existed, and I was amazed to learn that many people still use FORTRAN even after about 50 years of its creation. I now understand that premier scientific institutions like NASA and aerospace and defence companies like Boeing still have programs running on FORTRAN.

Many of you born after the 1990s may not have heard about FORTRAN. But I am sure those who had taken engineering courses or scientific research before the dawn of this century feel nostalgic about FORTRAN. I learned FORTRAN in 1990 when I enrolled in the University of Hyderabad as a PhD student. Before that, as an unemployed youth, for job prospects, I learned other programming languages like COBOL, BASIC, dBase (DBMS), Lotus 1-2-3 (Spreadsheet). I instantly liked FORTRAN because it didn't humiliate me with 200+ errors during program compilation, which I used to get when I was a novice user of COBOL, so I didn't have to run for cover while compiling and debugging my FORTRAN programs.

We speak to our elders with respect and restraint; similarly, programming languages like COBOL and FORTRAN also demand respect and discipline when using their syntax and structures. For example, In FORTRAN, by default, you cannot name an integer variable with any name you like, but the variable name should start with a letter between I and N. So, the new generation who start programming with Python may not appreciate the syntax and rigour required for earlier programming languages, but they were built like that because of the constraints of the technological ecosystem that prevailed then (e.g. memory constraints).

Since FORTRAN programs were written in a monolithic style, one needs to write everything that program was supposed to do in one single program, so the program runs into many lines of code. Since there was no internet available to copy or seek references about algorithms, it was a usual sight to see a fatty book titled 'Numerical Recipes in FORTRAN' placed alongside the book 'Schaum series - Programming with FORTRAN' or 'Computer Programing in FORTRAN' by V.Rajaram on a Students table.

It is commendable that even after fifty years of its deployment, many applications still run on COBOL, FORTRAN and C and are still on TIOBE list. People are getting assignments on legacy applications based on these languages. Even if it is maintenance work, if an opportunity is available, I encourage youngsters to have stints in these projects as it will help them to understand their legacy and appreciate the thought process behind designing stable applications within the technological and program constraints that prevailed then. I had a great learning experience while doing a short course on Assembly Language when I got an opportunity to work in the Embedded System domain (even though many are not using Assembly Language for programming); this course helped me to understand thought processes while designing an Embedded System application and how it differs from IT system designing approach.