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From: chuck@mitlns.mit.edu
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: MEL - A *Real* Programmer
Message-ID: <1990Nov2.133932.14692@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 2 Nov 90 16:11:32 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: M.I.T. Lab for Nuclear Science
Lines: 36

-Message-Text-Follows-
In article <5044@iron6.UUCP>, yeates@motcid.UUCP (Tony J Yeates) writes...

>Isn't Fortran a bit "girlie" for a "Real Programmer". Assembler, C or ...machine code

>are surely where its at for real programmers.
> 
>Real programmers write stuff like UNIX/C/gnu software/awk and prob. have arthritis in their 
>typing finger(s)! 

  You've obviously never taken a look at some of the code produced by
R. Brun and company at CERN. 99% in fortran *and* as sophistocated and complex
as the GNU project.

   Examples:  GEANT (See how fast you can write a package to track 100's
		   of particles REALISTICALLY through 3D volumes containing
                   MANY THOUSANDS of volume elements, made up of HUNDREDS
                   of materials). This is not and easy problem, to be useful
                   it has to be FAST. Imagine a program to track bullets
                   being shot through your house. The bullet takes a 
                   "step" is it now hitting plaster, air, a 2x4, a nail
                   in the 2x4, your sofa, a half empty can of soup in
                   in your fridge? How does this material affect the
                   flight of the bullet or bullet fragments? Don't forget
                   to make sure the code can run about a million particles
                   a day, to get statiscally useful results.

              COMIS full fortran 77 interpreter written (by a couple of
                  Russians) in Fortran. This isn't some wimpy partial
                  implimentation, its full F77. And you thought you couldn't
                  write compiliers in Fortran?

             The list goes on but I hope I've made my point. Which is *not*
about what is the best language, but that there are lot of programming gods 
programing in fortran.

						Chuck@mitlns.mit.edu