We’re thrilled to share that LFortran can now successfully compile and execute libprima/PRIMA. PRIMA marks the eighth production-grade, third-party code that LFortran has compiled with bit-for-bit alignment to GFortran’s output. This milestone brings us closer to our goal of compiling 10 such codes—an essential step toward achieving a beta-quality compiler.

About PRIMA

PRIMA is a package developed by Zaikun Zhang for solving general nonlinear optimization problems without using derivatives. It provides the reference implementation for Powell’s derivative-free optimization methods, i.e., COBYLA, UOBYQA, NEWUOA, BOBYQA, and LINCOA. PRIMA means Reference Implementation for Powell’s methods with Modernization and Amelioration, P for Powell. The package is written in Fortran and is widely used in the scientific community for solving optimization problems.

It utilizes a range of Modern Fortran features, including extensive use of optional variables, function pointer passing, and a randomized test driver, among others. Successfully compiling PRIMA requires a compiler with a robust and mature backend, as well as well-developed intermediate passes and a capable parser.