Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!crackers!transfer!lectroid!jjmhome!smds!rh
From: rh@smds.UUCP (Richard Harter)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Re: Fortran vs. C argument
Summary: A plague on both of your houses
Message-ID: <267@smds.UUCP>
Date: 6 Dec 90 08:29:19 GMT
References: <28621@usc> <18138@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Organization: SMDS Inc., Concord, MA
Lines: 26

In article <18138@hydra.gatech.EDU>, gt4512c@prism.gatech.EDU (BRADBERRY,JOHN L) writes:

> I find that the religious wars are fought largely because not
> enough people on BOTH sides of the issuse have invested enough
> time and effort LEARNING about the language. C jocks who have
> written 250K+ lines in FORTRAN are the exception just as FORTRAN
> jocks who have written 250K+ lines in C!

Well I can speak as one who has done pretty close to both -- I estimate
that I have suffered through about 300K lines of Fortran, 200K lines
of C, and 100K lines of PL/I plus the usual miscellaneous languages.
My observation is this -- both languages suffer from bloat and both
offer too many opportunities for creating mystery bugs.  I prefer C
because it has the features to do the things that I need to do --
however C is an awful language.  All you have to do is read comp.lang.c
and observe the language lawyers explaining the fine points of the
language to bewildered novices and you will begin to understand what
I mean.  C is ugly and baroque; Fortran is unspeakable.  PL/I combines
the failings of Fortran and Cobol and the virtues of neither.  Color
me a grumpy old fart. :-)

-- 
Richard Harter, Software Maintenance and Development Systems, Inc.
Net address: jjmhome!smds!rh Phone: 508-369-7398 
US Mail: SMDS Inc., PO Box 555, Concord MA 01742
This sentence no verb.  This sentence short.  This signature done.


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