Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!rodan.acs.syr.edu!isr
From: isr@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Michael S. Schechter - ISR group account)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: (pssst...fortran?)
Message-ID: <1990Sep10.193130.20463@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Date: 10 Sep 90 19:31:30 GMT
References: <9009081858.AA01770@world.std.com>
Organization: Institute for Sensory Research
Lines: 34

In article <9009081858.AA01770@world.std.com> bzs@WORLD.STD.COM (Barry Shein) writes:
>
>One of the real breakdowns of communications between "computer science
>types" and, for want of a better term, "fortran types" is that the CS
>person believes that by saying "nothing in C/LISP/etc prevents one
>from writing a perfectly good XYZ package, in fact, it would be better
>than what you have in fortran", and that the question is answered and
>the other party is just too neanderthal to recognize this. The FType
>of course is aghast and confused, since all s/he wants to do is USE
>that damn package, not write it. Potential != Reality, even if
>Potential > Reality.
>        -Barry Shein
>Software Tool & Die    | {xylogics,uunet}!world!bzs | bzs@world.std.com
>Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 617-739-0202        | Login: 617-739-WRLD


I've also seen FORATRAN types want to use it because they're
familiar with it. I have one now who is going to be using it
on a mac, even though i shudder to think of programming a
mac with a language without some sort of record structure.
I've tried to point this out to him and he can see the
advantages in C/Pascal for this type of thing, and he even
played around with THINK C a little, but he just isn't
comforable without his FORTRAN straight-line-spaghetti code.

Now, this is a person who WRITES his own packages and does
it quite well, given the FORTRAN limitations. He just likes
the silly stuff for some reason. My hope is that since he really
will be able to port over minimal amounts of code from his
PDP-11, I can get him to use C on the mac. (since he'll be writing
his packages fromm scratch anyway)
--
Mike Schechter, Computer Engineer,Institute Sensory Research, Syracuse Univ.
InterNet: Mike_Schechter@isr.syr.edu isr@rodan.syr.edu Bitnet: SENSORY@SUNRISE