Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ubvax!ames!lamaster
From: lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Hugh LaMaster)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Re: Fortran versus C for numerical analysis
Message-ID: <14897@ames.arc.nasa.gov>
Date: 15 Sep 88 01:05:32 GMT
References: <410@marob.MASA.COM> <3445@lanl.gov> <1484@ficc.uu.net>
Reply-To: lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov.UUCP (Hugh LaMaster)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Lines: 22

In article <1484@ficc.uu.net> peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes:
>You mean dynamically sized arrays. Dynamically allocated but statically
>sized arrays are implemented like any other array.

>> This is, by the way, what I mean when I say that C doesn't have the
>> concept of array (that is, a one or more dimensional collection of

>Sure it does. You just can't size it dynamically.

I still consider the lack of dynamically SIZED arrays to be a major stumbling
block for the acceptance of C for numerical analysis.  I do not accept that
applications programmers should have to deal constantly with arrays of
pointers just to get this capability.  But then, I believe that pointers
should be used as a LAST RESORT in APPLICATIONS code, unlike REAL
programmers who eat arrays of pointers to functions for breakfast :-)


-- 
  Hugh LaMaster, m/s 233-9,  UUCP ames!lamaster
  NASA Ames Research Center  ARPA lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov
  Moffett Field, CA 94035     
  Phone:  (415)694-6117