[MPI3 Fortran] [Mpi-comments] MPI 3.0: Fortran 2008 interface - issue with the LOGICAL kind

[Bill Long]

On 3/27/13 5:42 PM, Craig Rasmussen wrote:
> Rolf, I'm sorry to say this but it all seems way too complicated to me.
>   There are too many subgroups, options, special cases, ...  When things
> are too complicated, usually this means that something is wrong.
>

To carry the "too complicated" argument (much) farther, and only partly 
tongue-in-cheek,  the MPI Fortran forum should identify the 20 or so MPI 
functions that are adequate to link 99.9% of all Fortran programs using 
MPI, and completely delete the Fortran interface for all the rest. The 
0.1% power users can easily figure out how to write their own wrappers 
and interface blocks to access the other C library routines directly. 
Had C interoperability in Fortran been well established at the time MPI 
was started, I would hope that there would have never been separate 
Fortran interfaces in the first place.  This would be a big step in that 
direction, and would have minimal backward compatibility effects on the 
vast majority of users.  Obviously, I'm not suggesting this as an 
immediate change to solve the current problems, but I think it is worth 
pondering.

Cheers,
Bill

-- 
Bill Long                                           longb at cray.com
Fortran Technical Support    &                 voice: 651-605-9024
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