ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG5 N1136


To: WG5
From: The US
Subject: Improving the TR process in the context of the strategic plan 

It is imperative for the survival of Fortran that the development process for
Fortran standards respond more quickly and effectively to the needs of the
Fortran community. The technical report (TR) process that WG5 initiated in
Tokyo (April 1995) is intended to partially address this situation; spreading the
development work among several development bodies could result in more
timely standardization of critically needed capabilities. Indeed, major new pieces
of Fortran 95 - Forall, Pure procedures, Where extensions - were developed
independently by the High Performance Fortran (HPF) Forum. 

Under certain conditions, however, separate development could result in a
"patchwork" standard that is a disservice to the Fortran community and could
hamper rather than benefit Fortran. As described in WG5-N1111, the technical
report process contains the seeds of such destruction. These seeds are (1) the
unalterability of a TR's syntax and semantics in attempting its integration into a
coherent whole and (2) giving the primary development body responsibility for
producing a quality draft standard without the authority to make the
concomitant technical decisions. In these respects the TR process is in conflict
with the WG5 strategic plan (WG5 standing document 4). 

The first of these means that potentially the Fortran standard could contain quite
different styles and philosophies, if not outright conflicts; over time such
possibilities become highly probable. The second represents a departure from the
time-honored maxim that responsibility-without-authority (and vice versa) is a
prescription for failure; in the current TR process the primary development body
is given responsibility without adequate authority and the TR development
bodies are given authority without adequate responsibility. 

Fortunately there is a simple solution to both of these problems that preserves
the TR objectives: revise the TR process to bring it into compliance with section
3.5 of the strategic plan, which provides that "...all bodies developing extension
standards coordinate their work closely with the primary development body and
that primary development body approval be obtained before a proposed
extension standard is adopted". HPF is a case in point; consistent with the
provisions of the strategic plan, the primary development body made (minor)
technical changes during integration of the HPF features into Fortran 95. The
result was improved quality in both a technical and a standards sense; everyone
benefited.

The checks and balances of the strategic plan have worked exceedingly well for
Fortran 95, solving many of the problems encountered in producing Fortran 90.
The US therefore believes that the current strategic plan should be used for
Fortran 2000, and that the inconsistency between the TR process and section 3.5 of
the strategic plan should be removed by revising the TR process accordingly. 

The US strongly urges, in the interests of long-term viability of standard Fortran,
that WG5 make this revision at the earliest possible time.