What is MacFortran 2.4?

MacFortran is a Fortran development environment for Macintosh.

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This compiler is now in beta-test in the 2.4 version. This is much improved over the 2.3 release, with a number of bug fixes and a much better Mac interface. The compiler can now be configured so that your choice of text editor, as well as the Fortran linker, Debugger, Scriptbuilder, etc, can be “sub-launched” from the compiler. This does a lot to speed up transfers between the pieces of the programming environment, and also allows the programmer flexibility in choosing those pieces, such as specifying your favorite text editor. A script-builder utility similar to the MPW Commando is now provided to tame the atrocious command line interface which was the only way to run the Linker in the 2.3 version. In addition, Scriptbuilder can be used to construct a list of files for doing multiple compilations without operator intervention. The runtime library and user pre-compiled subroutines can be automatically linked at execution, so during development it is almost never necessary to use the linker. As with DCM Fortran, linking the runtime library to your code just copies in the entire library, but in this case you only have to carry around 12K for the runtime package. There are extensions to ANSI Fortran that are similar to those in DCM Fortran. Also in common with DCM, Absoft Fortran has no restrictions on code or data sizes, other than available memory.

This compiler has developed a bad reputation for bugginess. The 2.4 beta release fixes a number of these, and Absoft has taken steps to improve feedback from users by establishing a dial-in bulletin board that users can access to obtain information, fixes and to report bugs. Along with the clean up of bugs and improvement in the Mac interface in the 2.4 version, this compiler appears to be much improved. The compiler does not correctly support the Fortran ENTRY statement, but as far as I know, this is the only deviation from the ANSI standard for Fortran.

Bouldin, Chuck. The Status of FORTRAN. MacTech. (Volume 4, Issue 11).

Download MacFortran 2.4 for Mac

Architecture

Motorola 68K

System Requirements

From Mac OS 4.0 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

Architecture: 68K

Mac OS 4.x - Mac OS 9.2.2

 

Emulating this? It could probably run under: Mini vMac