peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) (12/05/90)
The Wheel of Life grinds on: 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. I know Fortran and a > smattering of other languages. I use Fortran mostly because I think I'm pretty typical of C programmers. I know quite a few languages, including Fortran. I use C mostly because: > a) I can write code quickly in this language. a) I can write code quickly in this language. Fortran doesn't count here, beacause I spend too much time writing code to simulate facilities available in every other programming language since Basic and BCPL mutated out of effective existence. It's almost as easy to code some stuff in assembly as it is in Fortran. > > b) Compilers exist for it on any machine I'm ever likely to use. b) Compilers exist for it on any machine I'm ever likely to use. So far as I know, Fortran and C are the only two languages I can make statement b about. I want to use Modula, or Oberon, or Tunis, or Euclid, or whatever. But they're not bloody available. Or when they are there are enough differences in the runtimes that code isn't even vaguely portable from one compiler to another on the same machine... let alone another machine. > Look, if someone out there can suggest a computer language that's > easy to learn and code in and that has the sort of widespread base that > Fortran does, I'll listen. Look, if someone out there can suggest a computer language that's widely available and doesn't require entering a straitjacket integrated environment I'll use it. > While I'm at it, I sincerely hope that some cleaner language like > Turing wipes C off the face of this planet. I'd love to see it, but I pray it takes Fortran with it. You want to see this happen, start writing compilers. -- Peter da Silva. `-_-' +1 713 274 5180. 'U` peter@ferranti.com
gl8f@astsun8.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) (12/05/90)
In article <GW_7N17@xds13.ferranti.com> peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes: > a) I can write code quickly in this language. > >Fortran doesn't count here, beacause I spend too much time writing code >to simulate facilities available in every other programming language >since Basic and BCPL mutated out of effective existence. It's almost as >easy to code some stuff in assembly as it is in Fortran. Sounds like your problems aren't well-suited to Fortran. So you shouldn't use it. Perhaps by the end of the silly flames, people will realize that you pick the right tool for the problem.