Project 74: Backward Compatibility Issues in Scripting Languages 

Prescott 2006:
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Douglas has proposed this new project and Boisvert pointed out the
need for such an activity. The implications for our community of
changes to Matlab is an example of where we can at least monitor and
document the issues. We need a clear description of the project.

Uppsala 2007:
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There was no report on this project although it is still an active
area of concern. Douglas proposed this as a new project last year and
it was pointed out that the specific concern is not just for languages
such as Matlab, but we should also monitor the changes in other
languages/systems such as in .net.

Toronto 2008:
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There was no report on this project although it is still an active
area of concern that must be monitored. It was agreed that the
paragraph describing its focus need updating.  Enright agreed to
contact Douglas and ask him to provide such an update.

Raleigh 2009:
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This is still an area of concern for several members. Douglas
reported that there was little progress to report as vendors
seemed unlikely to heed the advice of our community. It was
felt that we should retain it as an active project and Douglas
agreed to update the paragraph.

Douglas has contacted MathWorks, Mathematica, Maple, and H-P
Langtangen. Compatibility with Matlab is considered to be very
important. The Python community is more open than the others.

Leuven 2010:
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One aspect mentioned in Hopkin's talk at ICCAM 2010 was backward
compatibility for Matlab contributions to CALGO. Van Snyder
mentioned the Software Preservation Group, Sunny Vale (computer 
history museum), for which backward compatibility is an issue.

Boulder 2011:
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This is still an area of concern for some members. It was felt that a
new paragraph identifying the current focus of related research in
this area is needed.

Santander 2012:
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There was no report on this project but some discussion of the need 
for it to remain active. Douglas pointed out that the developers of languages,
such as Matlab, Maple, and Mathematica, are not necessarily interested
in "backward compatibility" and this can be a concern if a significant
amount of embedded software is written in these languages. We should
monitor the situation although we don't have any direct influence on 
how the situation evolves.

Shanghai 2013:
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The project was closed.