Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!maverick.ksu.ksu.edu!unmvax!ariel.unm.edu!ghostwheel.unm.edu!john
From: john@ghostwheel.unm.edu (John Prentice)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Fortran vs. C for numerical work
Message-ID: <1990Dec1.022233.16376@ariel.unm.edu>
Date: 1 Dec 90 02:22:33 GMT
References: <2392:Nov2902:59:0590@kramden.acf.nyu.edu> <7339@lanl.gov> <1990Nov30.145649.17688@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <1990Nov30.163613.9562@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca>
Sender: John K. Prentice
Organization: Amparo Corporation, Albuquerque, NM
Lines: 29

In article <1990Nov30.163613.9562@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca> mroussel@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Marc Roussel) writes:
>
>     I think I'm pretty typical of Fortran users...
>                                                         ... Until
>then, I don't want your silly-ass opinion.  If you want to compare
>languages, do it on comp.lang.misc where someone cares ...
>

Bunk.  This kind of bull is one reason Fortran has a bad name, too
many scientists who stick their head in the sand and ignore developments
in computer science.  I too am a "typical Fortran user" and I for one
think that it is healthy to have debates such as this one.  It allows
people to see the virtues of other languages and maybe learn a little
about something new.  As to doing it in this news group, this one is
read by scientists and I therefore think it is perfectly appropiate
since it is exactly this audience that would best profit from knowing
more about computer science.  This is said, I would remind you, from
the perspective of a computational PHYSICIST, not a computer scientist.
I have to tell you, the world of scientific computing is changing and
one's choice of language (be it Fortran, C, or whatever you like)  may
very well have to change with it.  That is why I have found this discussion
helpful, it has illuminated several points on both sides that I had not
considered.  Perhaps there should be a new newsgroup for scientific
computation (or maybe one for ostriches), but I think this one is fine.

John Prentice
Amparo Corporation
Albuquerque, NM
john@unmfys.unm.edu


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