30 Dec
2005
30 Dec
'05
2:11 p.m.
Note one aspect of card-type programming that's
largely a dim memory:
Fixed-width fields. That "C" for comment in FORTRAN goes in column 6, not
5, not 1, not 7. Similarly, columns 73-80 are ignored by the compiler and
1-5 are reserved for statement labels. Statements exclusive of the label,
start between column 7 and 72. A lot of languages, had more stringent
placement requirements.
Nearly correct - C for comment went in column 1.
Column 6 was for continuation - anything other than a blank or zero in this
column appended the contents of columns 7-72 to the previous card image for
the compiler.
You were allowed 19 continuation cards in Fortran 4 tho' even a very complex
FORMAT statement rarely got that far.
Andy