FORTRAN is one of the oldest high-level languages that has been in use since
the 1950s. In 1966, the FORTRAN66 was set as its standard, and in 1978, a
full-scale renewal to FORTRAN77 was made.
Since the FORTRAN has a long history, massive numbers of libraries written in
FORTRAN exist. However, at the present when many new languages exist, such as
the C, FORTRAN may give the impression of a rigid (inflexible) language dragged
down by long history. But FORTRAN is the most suitable language for scientific
computing, and is unrivaled by other languages. It is not only this
"massive wealth of libraries," but also this "usability"
that FORTRAN has gained support for over 30 years.
It is indeed difficult to fully take advantage of any language, including FORTRAN. Luckily, the FORTRAN specifications (grammar book) are relatively small in volume, and are therefore easier to learn. Even so, it is not easy to "master" FORTRAN. In DCL, including MATH1, many advanced techniques, not presented in introductory manuals, are frequently used. Of course, the user is nor required to have knowledge in them to use the DCL. However, it is advised that the user become acquainted with them to use the DCL to its maximum capabilities. Since such knowledge has wide applicability, no doubt, it will assist the user in creating his own FORTRAN programs.