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Overhead in FORTRAN preprocessors
Author(s) -
Meeson Reginald,
Pyster Arthur
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
software: practice and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1097-024X
pISSN - 0038-0644
DOI - 10.1002/spe.4380091203
Subject(s) - fortran , computer science , preprocessor , compiler , programming language , parallel computing , coding (social sciences) , benchmark (surveying) , python (programming language) , overhead (engineering) , source code , subroutine , mathematics , statistics , geodesy , geography
The quality of code generated by two commercially available FORTRAN preprocessors is examined. These preprocessors augment FORTRAN with ‘structured’ control structures such as the IF‐THEN‐ELSE and WHILE statements. Two versions of benchmark programs were written and tested, one version produced by the preprocessor, the other, performing the same computation, produced by careful hand‐coding directly in FORTRAN. The code generated by the preprocessor and the code written directly in FORTRAN were then compiled. The resulting object modules were then compared for relative execution time and size. This experiment was repeated on three computers, and five compilers with various optimization levels. The results indicate that a substantial overhead in storage space may be paid by using a preprocessor rather than direct coding in FORTRAN, and that in some cases execution time may be increased somewhat by using a FORTRAN preprocessor.