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Coarray Fortran
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<p>Coarray Fortran (CAF), formerly known as F--, started as an extension of <a href="/facts/Fortran/m1KqjcMU">Fortran</a> 95/2003 for <a href="/facts/Parallel_computing/nQzcpzQt">parallel processing</a> created by Robert Numrich and John Reid in the 1990s. The <a href="/facts/Fortran_2008/m1KqjcMU">Fortran 2008</a> standard (ISO/IEC 1539-1:2010) now includes coarrays (spelled without hyphen), as decided at the May 2005 meeting of the ISO Fortran Committee; the syntax in the Fortran 2008 standard is slightly different from the original CAF proposal. </p><p>A CAF <a href="/facts/Computer_program/e38jH9N9">program</a> is interpreted as if it were replicated a number of times and all copies were executed asynchronously. Each copy has its own set of data objects and is termed an <i>image</i>. The <a href="/facts/Array_data_structure/BKGvF8AM">array</a> syntax of Fortran is extended with additional trailing subscripts in square brackets to provide a concise representation of references to data that is spread across images. </p><p>The CAF extension was implemented in some Fortran <a href="/facts/Compiler/WNfCDFJe">compilers</a> such as those from <a href="/facts/Cray/coAlupuy">Cray</a> (since release 3.1). Since the inclusion of coarrays in the Fortran 2008 standard, the number of implementations is growing. The first <a href="/facts/Open-source_software/HzTaB8E9">open-source</a> compiler which implemented coarrays as specified in the Fortran 2008 standard for <a href="/facts/Linux_architecture/dlkduHuA">Linux architectures</a> is <a href="/facts/G95/mPvrr2gq">G95</a>. Currently, <a href="/facts/GNU_Fortran/Cf1Vx2Iv">GNU Fortran</a> provides wide coverage of Fortran's coarray features in single- and multi-image configuration (the latter based on the OpenCoarrays library). Another implementation of coarrays and related parallel extensions from Fortran 2008 is available in the OpenUH compiler (a branch of <a href="/facts/Open64/hac4s4vu">Open64</a>) developed at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Houston/gd5mxsao">University of Houston</a>. </p>