PC Fortran (Was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

[Fred Cisin]

>>>> One reaason why you don't hear much about that is because the first
>>>> version of Microsoft Fortran for the PC wasn't real great.
>>>> It was written in Microsoft Pascal.
>>
>> On Sat, 30 May 2020, John Foust via cctalk wrote:
>>> Really!
>>> How does this connect to Microsoft's FORTRAN-80 for CP/M circa 1977?
>>
>> unrelated product, with no apparent connections, that I'm aware of.  The
>> 8080/Z80 FORTRAN-80 would have been a better starting point!
>> Bob Wallace wrote the original Microsoft Pascal; I don't know who wrote
>> the [PC] Fortran, other than being told that it was written in 
>> Microsoft Pascal, and to avoid the run-time library.

On Sun, 31 May 2020, Eric Smith wrote:
> I assume you mean that Microsoft Fortran for the PC was written in 
> Pascal.
>
> I did some reverse-engineering of the Microsoft FORTRAN-80 compiler, and it
> appears to be hand-written in 8080 assembly.
>
> On the other hand, Intel also had a FORTRAN-80 product, which was unrelated
> to Microsoft FORTRAN-80. Intel FOTRAN-80 ran on their MDS development
> systems under the ISIS-II operating system, and the compiler was written in
> PL/M.


Exactly.

Microsoft Fortran for the PC, written in Pascal, was not related to 
Microsoft FORTRAN-80 for CP/M, which was written in 8080 assembly.

Microsoft Fortran for the PC was not related to Microsoft FORTRAN-80 for 
TRS80, which was a derivative of Microsoft FORTRAN-80 for CP/M, which was 
written in 8080 assembly.  Because the TRS80 was Z80, I would not be 
surprised if some of the TRS80 specific code in Microsoft FORTRAN-80 
for TRS80 might have used some Z80.


Microsoft Fortran for the PC was written in Pascal.
It was an unrelated product.

I don't think that any of the Microsoft Fortran products were related to 
the Intel FORTRAN-80.  Did Microsoft ever develop anything in PL/M?
Did Microsoft ever develop anything for ISIS-II?