[J3] J3/WG5 <-> POSIX?

[Bill Long]

> On Mar 5, 2018, at 8:30 AM, Anton Shterenlikht via J3 <j3 at mailman.j3-fortran.org> wrote:
> 
> I was reading a couple of articles
> on why posix IO is so "bad" for HPC,
> e.g. [1], which led me to IEEE 1003.1-2017,
> "Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX)
> Base Specifications, Issue 7",
> which has a reference to Fortran...
> ANSI X3.9-1978 standard (FORTRAN 77).
> A bit out of date.

There are multiple parts to POSIX, but the I/O parts are certainly out of date, as the article you cite explains. 

Fortran has made an attempt to evolve so that it remains relevant has computer systems change over time.  I don’t see any similar goal/commitment from the POSIX crowd. 

> 
> Also, it appears IEEE 1003.9-1992
> "POSIX FORTRAN 77 Language Interfaces—Part 1: Binding for 
> System Application Program Interface (API)"
> is still active.
> Is that correct?

And works just fine for a system designed and shipped in 1977. 

> 
> From a quick search, the latest WG5 paper
> with POSIX in the title is from 1996 - N1235,
> to do with C binding.
> J3 papers are harder to search, as there is no
> single list.
> 
> I understand there is no J3 liason for POSIX now.
> Was there ever a link from J3/WG5 and POSIX?
> Do J3/WG5 care about the POSIX standard(s)?

Fortran has tended to include needed things directly in the language. I/O statements (READ, WRITE, OPEN, CLOSE, …) for example. We add intrinsic procedures for system inquiry.  Whether those things access POSIX C bindings in the library code is up to the vendor.  If there are still PXFxxx calls in Fortran programs that are essential and have no intrinsic replacement, we might look at creating a replacement.  

Cheers,
Bill


> 
> Thanks
> 
> Anton
> 
> [1] https://www.nextplatform.com/2017/09/11/whats-bad-posix-io/

Bill Long                                                                       longb at cray.com
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