September newsletter draft

_posts/2021-09-01-Fortran-Newsletter-September-2021.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Fortran newsletter: September 2021"
+category: newsletter
+author: Milan Curcic, Alexis Perry-Holby, Sebastian Ehlert, Ondřej Čertík
+---
+
+Welcome to the September 2021 edition of the monthly Fortran newsletter.
+The newsletter comes out at the beginning of every month and details
+Fortran news from the previous month.
+
+<ul id="page-nav"></ul>
+
+## fortran-lang.org
+
+This month we've had several updates to the website:
+
+* [#303](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fortran-lang.org/pull/303):
+  Add NJOY to package index
+
+### Work in progress
+
+* [#302](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fortran-lang.org/pull/302) (WIP):
+  Update Silverfrost compiler description.
+* [#300](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fortran-lang.org/pull/300) (WIP):
+  Add QCxMS to package index
+* [#246](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fortran-lang.org/pull/246) (WIP):
+  Transferring fortran90.org "Fortran Best Practices" into a mini-book
+* [#201](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fortran-lang.org/pull/201) (WIP):
+  Internationalization for fortran-lang
+
+[Let us know](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fortran-lang.org/issues) if you have any suggestions for the website and its content.
+We welcome any new contributors to the website and the tutorials page in particular - see the [contributor guide](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fortran-lang.org/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md) for how to get started.
+
+## Fortran Standard Library
+
+Here's what's new in stdlib:
+
+* [#467](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/467):
+  Implemented move_alloc for string_type
+* [#470](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/470):
+  Revival string list 
+* [#481](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/481):
+  [stdlib_linalg] Update eye function.
+* [#493](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/493):
+  Update copyright and remove old artifact
+* [#444](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/444):
+  Add format_string routine to format other types to strings
+* [#483](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/483):
+  Remove GCC Fortran MinGW 8.4.0 from known to work list
+
+### Work in progress
+
+* [#501](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/501) (WIP):
+  Minor updates to README.md
+* [#500](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/500) (WIP):
+  Selection algorithms
+* [#499](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/499) (WIP):
+  [stdlib_linalg] matrix property checks
+* [#498](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/498) (WIP):
+  [stdlib_math] add `arg/argd/argpi`
+* [#494](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/494) (WIP):
+  Add testing module to allow better structuring of test suites
+* [#491](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/491) (WIP):
+  Stdlib linked list
+* [#488](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/488) (WIP):
+  [stdlib_math] add `is_close` routines.
+* [#478](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/478) (WIP):
+  [stdlib_linalg] Add zeros, ones function.
+* [#475](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/475) (WIP):
+  Generating sorting subroutines specific to `character` type with fypp
+* [#473](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/473) (WIP):
+  Error stop improvements
+* [#455](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/455) (WIP):
+  stdlib_hash: waterhash algorithm
+* [#452](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/452) (WIP):
+  Implementation of a map data type
+* [#445](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/445) (WIP):
+  [stdlib_io] `disp`(display your data)
+* [#437](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/437) (WIP):
+  [FPM] add fpm support
+* [#363](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/363) (WIP):
+  Sorting string's characters according to their ASCII values
+* [#353](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/353) (WIP):
+  Initial checkin for a module for tolerant comparison of reals
+* [#286](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/286) (WIP):
+  Probability Distribution and Statistical Functions -- Beta Distribution Module
+* [#278](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/278) (WIP):
+  Probability Distribution and Statistical Functions -- Gamma Distribution Module
+* [#276](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/276) (WIP):
+  Probability Distribution and Statistical Functions -- Exponential Distribution Module
+* [#273](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/273) (WIP):
+  Probability Distribution and Statistical Functions -- Normal Distribution Module 
+* [#272](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/272) (WIP):
+  Probability Distribution and Statistical Functions -- Uniform Distribution Module
+* [#189](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/pull/189) (WIP):
+  Initial implementation of COO / CSR sparse format
+
+
+Please help improve stdlib by testing and [reviewing pull requests](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib/issues?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22reviewers+needed%22)!
+
+The candidate for file system operations to be included in stdlib is being developed by
+[@MarDiehl](https://github.com/MarDiehl) and [@arjenmarkus](https://github.com/arjenmarkus)
+in [this repository](https://github.com/MarDiehl/stdlib_os).
+Please try it out and let us know how it works, if there are any issues, or if the API can be improved.
+
+## Fortran Package Manager
+
+Here's what's new in fpm:
+
+* [Version 0.4.0](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/releases/tag/v0.4.0):
+  Alpha release update
+* [#546](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/546):
+  Update version for release 0.4.0
+* [#548](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/548):
+  Fix build on MacOS/ARM64
+* [#527](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/527):
+  Add objects for handling compiler and archiver
+* [#536](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/536):
+  Always call `git init` in fpm new when backfilling
+* [#533](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/533):
+  Allow extra section in package manifest
+* [#528](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/528):
+  Generate `build/.gitignore`
+
+### Work in progress
+
+* [#539](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/539) (WIP):
+  Add parent packages into dependency tree
+* [#521](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/521) (WIP):
+  Expand tabs in source parsing
+* [#506](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/506) (WIP):
+  Initial implementation of implicit_none
+* [#498](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/pull/498) (WIP):
+  Compiler flags profiles
+
+`fpm` is still in early development and we need as much help as we can get.
+Here's how you can help today:
+
+* Use it and let us know what you think! Read the [fpm packaging guide](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/blob/master/PACKAGING.md) to learn how to build your package with fpm, and the [manifest reference](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/blob/master/manifest-reference.md) to learn what are all the things that you can specify in the fpm.toml file.
+* Browse existing *fpm* packages on the [fortran-lang website](https://fortran-lang.org/packages/fpm)
+* Browse the [open issues](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm/issues) and see if you can help implement any fixes or features.
+* Adapt your Fortran package for fpm and submit it to the [Registry](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm-registry).
+* Improve the documentation.
+
+The short-term goal of fpm is to make development and installation of Fortran packages with dependencies easier.
+Its long term goal is to build a rich and decentralized ecosystem of Fortran packages and create a healthy
+environment in which new open source Fortran projects are created and published with ease.
+
+## FFTPACK
+
+Zuo Zhihua ([@zoziha](https://github.com/zoziha)) and Ondřej Čertík ([@certik](https://github.com/certik)) started maintaining the public domain project FFTPACK under the Fortran-lang namespace.
+The project is readily available for usage in with fpm.
+
+Here is what is new in FFTPACK:
+
+* [#10](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fftpack/pull/10):
+  Add `(i)qct/dcosqi/dcosqf/dcosqb` interfaces for quarter wave data.
+* [#7](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fftpack/pull/7):
+  Add `dzffti/dzfftf/dzfftb` interfaces
+* [#4](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fftpack/pull/4):
+  Improve fft interface for `complex` sequences: `(i)fft/zffti/zfftf/zfftb`
+* [#6](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fftpack/pull/6):
+  Add  `(i)rfft/dffti/dfftf/dfftb` interface and ready to move to `fortran-lang`
+* [#5](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fftpack/pull/5):
+  Add `fftshift/ifftshift`
+* [#3](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fftpack/pull/3):
+  Add CI: fpm.yml
+
+### Work in progress
+
+* [#11](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fftpack/pull/11) (WIP):
+  Add `(i)dct/dcosti/dcost` interfaces.
+
+Feedback and ideas for this project are welcome.
+
+## Compilers
+
+### Flang
+
+Recent development updates:
+
+* New Driver and CMake integration:
+    * The new driver has replaced the old, hence f18 has been deleted. 
+    * flang-new (aka. the new driver) now drives the flang bash script before an external compiler is called.
+    * Code-generation work is ongoing.
+    * Work is now proceeding to enable CMake to recognize the compiler and set the appropriate options for build configurations.
+* FIR (Fortran IR - a dialect of MLIR):
+    * Fortran 95 lowering and runtime support is nearing completion, particularly of intrinsics
+    * Code upstreaming will begin again in earnest once F95 is deemed complete
+* OpenMP
+    * Nesting of region semantic checks
+    * enter_data MLIR to LLVM IR lowering
+    * Semantic checks for allocate directive
+    * Lowering for various modifiers for the schedule clause
+    * Pretty printer and parser for omp.target operation
+    * Semantic checks for linear, nested barrier, allocate directive
+    * Progress with firstprivate, critical, collapse, ordered, reduction
+* Lift -Werror checks into local functions
+* Document the flang wrapper script
+* Fix the extent calculation when upper bounds are less than lower bounds
+* Fix list-directed plural repeated null values at end of record
+* Fix build failure on MacOS involving std::clock_t
+* Fix error messages on Windows.
+* Disable Plugins in out-of-tree builds
+* Correct off-by-one error in SET_EXPONENT
+
+Call notes are recorded and available upon request [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/10T-S2J3GrahpG4Ooif93NSTz2zBW0MQc_RlwHi0-afY). Please contact Alexis Perry-Holby at aperry@lanl.gov for document access.
+
+### LFortran
+
+* 168
+  [merged](https://gitlab.com/lfortran/lfortran/-/merge_requests?scope=all&state=merged)
+  Merge Requests in August 2021
+* The following people have contributed code to LFortran in August:
+   * Ondřej Čertík
+   * Thirumalai Shaktivel
+   * Rohit Goswami
+   * Gagandeep Singh
+   * Andrew Best
+   * Carlos Une
+* Sebastian Ehlert got LFortran working with fpm
+* Many people have reported bugs (thank you all!)
+* Our 3 Google Summer of Code (GSoC) students have successfully finished their
+  projects. Here are their final reports:
+   * Gagandeep Singh: [https://czgdp1807.github.io/2021/08/16/z_final_report.html](https://czgdp1807.github.io/2021/08/16/z_final_report.html)
+   * Thirumalai Shaktivel: [https://gist.github.com/Thirumalai-Shaktivel/c2a1aaa5239e792e499eaa8942987519](https://gist.github.com/Thirumalai-Shaktivel/c2a1aaa5239e792e499eaa8942987519)
+   * Rohit Goswami: [https://rgoswami.me/posts/gsoc21-fin-reprot/](https://rgoswami.me/posts/gsoc21-fin-reprot/)
+
+#### LFortran 0.12.0 was released on August 15
+
+Changes since the last release.
+
+* Fixed all issues in the parser that were reported (AST)
+  * multiple loop single end do
+  * arithmetic if
+* Comments and empty lines are now represented in AST and formatted correctly (AST)
+* The formatter (`lfortran fmt`) now uses the minimal amount of parentheses in expressions
+* Initial fixed-form parser (AST)
+* Initial class support (ASR, LLVM)
+* Allocate / deallocate, allocatable arrays (ASR, LLVM)
+* Associate block (ASR, LLVM)
+* Runtime library refactoring (ASR, LLVM)
+  * Split into builtin, pure and impure
+  * `iso_fortran_env`, `iso_c_binding` intrinsic modules added
+* Compile time evaluation (ASR, LLVM)
+
+Commits (`git shortlog -ns v0.11.0..v0.12.0`):
+```
+   369  Ondřej Čertík
+    85  Thirumalai Shaktivel
+    79  Gagandeep Singh
+    75  Rohit Goswami
+    20  Andrew Best
+     4  Dominic Poerio
+```
+
+
+#### Updates in master since the last release:
+
+* LFortran can now compile binaries on Windows
+* C interoperation works on all platforms (including Windows and MSVC)
+* Runtime library improvements
+  * Complex intrinsics fixed on all platforms
+  * All trigonometric functions now use the Fortran `impure` interface in the runtime library
+  * More intrinsics implemented
+* Initial implementation of classes and methods
+* LFortran now works with `fpm` and compiles the hello world project and a few other example projects
+* Parser improvements: team and sync statements
+* Improved handling of character types as function arguments and return values
+
+
+We are looking for new contributors, so if you are interested, please [get in
+touch with us](https://lfortran.org/)! We would be happy to do a video call
+with you to get you started.
+
+
+## Events
+
+* We had our 15th Fortran Monthly call on August 17.
+  You can watch the recording below:
+  <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/496oZFYcA00" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
+
+* FortranCon 2021 will be held virtually from September 23-24, 2021.
+  Registration is free of charge and is due by September 15.
+  The second call for abstracts is due September 1.
+  For more information, visit the [FortranCon website](https://tcevents.chem.uzh.ch/event/14/).
+
+* Our Google Summer of Code program for 2021 is coming to a close.
+  Read about our students and their progress so far on Discourse: <https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/c/gsoc-2021/11>
+
+As usual, subscribe to the [mailing list](https://groups.io/g/fortran-lang) and/or
+join the [Discourse](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group) to stay tuned with the future meetings.
+
+## Contributors
+
+We thank everybody who contributed to fortran-lang in the past month by
+commenting in any of these repositories:
+
+* [fortran-lang/stdlib](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib)
+* [fortran-lang/stdlib-cmake-example](https://github.com/fortran-lang/stdlib-cmake-example)
+* [fortran-lang/fpm](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm)
+* [fortran-lang/fpm-registry](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm-registry)
+* [fortran-lang/setup-fpm](https://github.com/fortran-lang/setup-fpm)
+* [fortran-lang/fpm-haskell](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fpm-haskell)
+* [fortran-lang/fortran-lang.org](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fortran-lang.org)
+* [fortran-lang/benchmarks](https://github.com/fortran-lang/benchmarks)
+* [fortran-lang/fortran-forum-article-template](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fortran-forum-article-template)
+* [fortran-lang/fftpack](https://github.com/fortran-lang/fftpack)
+* [j3-fortran/fortran\_proposals](https://github.com/j3-fortran/fortran_proposals)
+
+<div id="gh-contributors" data-startdate="August 01 2021" data-enddate="August 31 2021" height="500px"></div>