• A COMPUTER PLOTTING PROGRAM FOR SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

    Author(s):
    David C. Elmore, Lawrence K Wang (see profile)
    Editor(s):
    Hung-ping Tsao
    Date:
    2022
    Group(s):
    Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM)
    Subject(s):
    Computer science, Plotting charts--Computer programs, FORTRAN (Computer program language)
    Item Type:
    Book chapter
    Tag(s):
    memoir
    Permanent URL:
    https://doi.org/10.17613/6yqg-8968
    Abstract:
    Wang, LK and Elmore, DC (2022). A computer plotting program for scientific and engineering applications. In: “Evolutionary Progress in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM)”, Wang, LK and Tsao, HP (eds.), 4 (10C), STEAM-VOL4-NUM10C-OCT2022. 61 pages. October 2022, Lenox Institute Press, MA, USA. https://doi.org/10.17613/6yqg-8968 ........ABSTRACT: The most natural form to arrange the information collected is in tabular form and, therefore, most results are generated in the form of tables. Often, however, tables are not sufficient for a final presentation of the results. For many scientific problems, the analyst and the readers are interested in a graphical presentation. The usual procedure is to generate graphs from tables. Occasionally, a computer program is written to handle this type of situation. The authors document a historical general plotting subroutine which was such a program, and was used by the faculty and students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT), and the Lenox Institute of Water Technology (LIWT) for a very long time. This plotting subroutine, written by the authors in the old standard Fortran IV language, was used at RPI-SIT-LIWT computing facilities that employed line printers, accepted any number of two dimensional data and, then, regenerated it in the form that many analyst preferred, namely, in graphical form. Fortran computer language has dominated scientific computing for over seven decades in various scientific and engineering applications, and has been continuously evolving from Fortran IV to Fortran 2018 and beyond. It is the authors' hope that this old document may be used as a college educational tool on how to develop and document a useful computer program, and as a stepping stone for updating an old computer program to a latest version. Scientific development never stops.
    Notes:
    KEYWORDS: Computer plotting program, Fortran IV, Documentation, Educational Tool, Stepping Stone, Periodical Updating. Education, Software Engineering, Memoir
    Metadata:
    Published as:
    Book chapter    
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    1 year ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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