A set of refactorings for the evolution of Fortran programs. (2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rissetti, Gustavo; Charão, Andrea Schwertner; Piveta, Eduardo Kessler
• Is Part Of: International journal of high performance systems architecture. Volume 6:Number 2(2016)
• Page Start: 98
• Page End: 109
• Publication Date: 2016
• Subjects: formula translation -- Fortran programs -- refactoring -- software evolution; Computer architecture -- Periodicals; Computer systems -- Periodicals; High performance computing -- Periodicals; 004.205
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-6528

Abstract

The formula translation (Fortran) language, despite having almost 60 years of existence, is still widely used in scientific applications. The majority of Fortran applications still in use is composed of legacy code, sometimes using obsolete or deprecated language features and, thus, thriving for updates to improve their quality attributes though evolution. Software evolution can be benefited from refactoring which provides well-defined mechanisms to be followed, helping to maintain and to improve the quality of existent systems. We present a set of refactorings for the evolution of Fortran programs and automate a set of them in the Photran framework.