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Availability of Fortran M Compiler

A prototype compiler for the parallel programming language Fortran M (described in the July 1993 issue of Parallel Computing Research) is available from Argonne National Laboratory. Fortran M is a small set of extensions to Fortran 77 designed to support the modular construction of deterministic task-parallel programs. The compiler is a preprocessor that translates Fortran M to Fortran 77. A portable runtime library provides communication and process management functions.

The complete implementation of the Fortran M language has been tested on the following computers:

• Sun 4 workstations and networks running SunOS 4.1.3
• IBM RS/6000 workstations and networks running AIX 3.2
• NeXT workstations and networks running NEXTSTEP 3.0
• SGI workstations and networks running IRIX 4.0.5F
• IBM 9076 Scalable POWERParallel 1 (SP-1) multicomputer
• CRAY C90

Ports to other computers (including the Intel Paragon and HP workstations) are underway.

Preliminary experimental studies show that Fortran M programs are as fast as, or faster than, equivalent programs developed using popular communication libraries. In addition, Fortran M offers the advantages of modularity and determinism.

The compiler, a detailed tutorial, and user manual are available by anonymous ftp from info.mcs.anl.gov, in directory pub/fortran-m. File fm_v1.0.tar.Z contains the compiler and manual; file PAPER.ps.Z contains a paper describing Fortran M.

The compiler, tutorial, and user manual are also available from Softlib. The files reside in the pub/fortran-M/ directory under Softlib.

Known deficiencies and enhancements planned for future releases are summarized in the manual distributed with the compiler. Feedback is welcome on both the software and future priorities for improvements. Send comments to fortran- m@mcs.anl.gov , or contact Ian Foster at 708-252-4619.