Re: compaq fortran compiler
I do not have any explicit test suites for fortran, but one of the
primary pieces of software I use is an 88,000 line linear analysis
program. It primarily spends its time doing floating point stuff,
such as inverting matrices. I normally run the program under Tru64,
or the Tru64 binary on Alpha Linux.
After grabbing the Debianized fortran from Compaq, I decided to
recompile the program under Alpha Linux. I am pleased to report that
the program compiled without a single problem, though it would not
link statically.
Under both Linux and Tru64 I compiled the program with the following
flags: -fast -tune host -arch host -assume accuracy_sensitive -O5
Running the program on a 533mhz 164sx I get the following timings for
a particularly hairy model:
Compaq Fortran for Linux: 2:16.55 minutes
Tru64 binary under Linux: 2:14.80
Tru64 binary under Tru64: 2:20.67 (a different machine, but
identical hardware)
To me, these are identical times, as I was not controlling for machine
load, though for all tests the computers were not doing anything else
terribly taxing. I am pleased to see that Compaq Fortran for Linux
appears to perform just as well as Fortran for Tru64. I would be even
happier if I did not have access to Tru64.
All three instances get the same answer to the number of reported
decimal places.
Just for comparison I built the same program with f2c and egcs-1.1.2,
and the results were a bit more disturbing. g77 does not work well
compiling this program.
f2c (egcs) Alpha Linux: 6:29.01 minutes
f2c (egcs) Intel Linux: 4:18.17
The Intel box is a dual processor 488mhz dual Celeron, though the
program is only single threaded. To me, these numbers should
demonstrate the wisdom of Compaq's decision to release their fortran
for Linux.
--
Jeff Lessem.
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