JLAPACK – compiling LAPACK Fortran to Java

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Doolin, David M. | Dongarra, Jack^{; ;} | Seymour, Keith

Affiliations: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA | Mathematical Science Section, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA | Department of Computer Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

Note: [] Corresponding author. E‐mail: dongarra@cs.utk.edu.

Abstract: The JLAPACK project provides the LAPACK numerical subroutines translated from their subset Fortran 77 source into class files, executable by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and suitable for use by Java programmers. This makes it possible for Java applications or applets, distributed on the World Wide Web (WWW) to use established legacy numerical code that was originally written in Fortran. The translation is accomplished using a special purpose Fortran‐to‐Java (source‐to‐source) compiler. The LAPACK API will be considerably simplified to take advantage of Java’s object‐oriented design. This report describes the research issues involved in the JLAPACK project, and its current implementation and status.

Journal: Scientific Programming, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 111-138, 1999