The Fortran M Language (FM)

FM is a small set of extensions to Fortran that supports a modular approach to the design of task parallel, message-passing programs. It has the following features.

Modularity

Programs are constructed by using explicitly-declared communication channels to plug together program modules called processes. A process can encapsulate common data, subprocesses, and internal communication.

Safety

Operations on channels are restricted so as to guarantee deterministic execution, even in dynamic computations that create and delete processes and channels. Channels are typed, so a compiler can check for correct usage.

Architecture Independence

The mapping of processes to processors can be specified with respect to a virtual computer with size and shape different from that of the target computer. Mapping is specified by annotations that influence performance but not correctness.

Efficiency

FM can be compiled efficiently for uniprocessors, shared-memory computers, distributed-memory computers, and networks of workstations. Because message passing is incorporated into the language, a compiler can optimize communication as well as computation.