What is ratfor?

Ratfor (Rational Fortran) is a higher-level programming language that adds control structures to Fortran 77, making it easier to write complex programs. It was first developed in the 1970s by Brian Kernighan and P. J. Plauger. Ratfor code is translated into Fortran code before compilation.

Ratfor includes features such as conditional statements (if-else), do-while loops, and subroutines. It also adds string handling capabilities that were not available in Fortran 77.

One of the main benefits of Ratfor is that it allows programmers to write code in a more structured and logical way. This makes it easier to understand and maintain, especially for larger programs. Furthermore, since it is based on Fortran, existing Fortran code can be easily converted to Ratfor.

However, Ratfor is considered to be a legacy programming language and is not widely used today. It has largely been replaced by newer programming languages such as C, Java, and Python.