Computer Environment Report.

Abstract

activities over the past years in the area of computer-program documentation, transfer, and exchange. What documentation of a computer program should be provided to ensure that: a. Another person can most effectively use the program? b. Another programmer can most readily modify or extend the prograrn ? c. The program can most easily be moved to another computer configuration? These questions are not unique to the Laboratory, and answers are being sought in most computer installations and by many computer user groups and professional societies. The American Nuclear Society is one of these. In 1966 a Society Subcommittee formulated "A Code of Good Practices for the Documentation of Digital Computer Programs," which was published as Nuclear Engineering Bulletin 4-1. Currently, this Committee, of which the authors are members, is preparing a description of recommended programming practices and program-exchange pitfalls. Although a computer program may be completely written in a machine-independent language, such as FORTRAN, it requires a certain minimum environment to function properly. This environment consists of the software systems and hardware devices and equipment available at the originating installation. Consequently, to be complete, documentation * • DESCRIPTION OF HARDWARE *