J_ELORAN@FINJYU.BITNET (12/25/87)
All the people who have said something good about fortran and operating systems have been refering to 'old' operating systems. Now why are the 'new' operating systems written in entirely different languages? VMS in bliss and Unix in C. People have realized that some languages are more suitable for numerical calulcations and some are for both (talking about C...) So why would we use 'formula translator for an operating system?' Because some people have learned it and are NOT bothering to learn new programming languages. I was part of this 'old programming languages' category, until I got thrilled enough (inspired by other C programmers) to learn C. After I learned C, I began to understand what the REAL difference between the 'old' and the 'new' programming languages were. And it also affected to my view of the operating systems (along the study of them). Long live C! Jussi Eloranta J_ELORANTA@FINJYU.BITNET, ELORANTA@FINJYU.BITNET, JELORANTA@FINFUN.BITNET <Just Another Student [still]> University of Jyvaskyla <Chemistry Dept. && COSCI> Finland.
gil@icus.UUCP (Gil Kloepfer Jr.) (12/27/87)
In article <8712250711.AA20205@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> J_ELORAN@FINJYU.BITNET writes: > > All the people who have said something good about fortran and operating > systems have been refering to 'old' operating systems. Now why are the > 'new' operating systems written in entirely different languages? > VMS in bliss and Unix in C. People have realized that some languages are > more suitable for numerical calulcations and some are for both > (talking about C...) So why would we use 'formula translator for an > operating system?' Because some people have learned it and are NOT > bothering to learn new programming languages. I was part of this > 'old programming languages' category, until I got thrilled enough > (inspired by other C programmers) to learn C. After I learned C, > I began to understand what the REAL difference between the 'old' > and the 'new' programming languages were. And it also affected to my view > of the operating systems (along the study of them). > > Long live C! > > Jussi Eloranta > J_ELORANTA@FINJYU.BITNET, ELORANTA@FINJYU.BITNET, JELORANTA@FINFUN.BITNET > <Just Another Student [still]> > University of Jyvaskyla <Chemistry Dept. && COSCI> > Finland. Again, the original purpose of my article (the one that started this discussion) and the follow-ups on the OS's written in FORTRAN, was to show that all languages have their places, and that they can all be used, to some extent, to do a variety of different programming tasks. THERE IS NO NEED TO PREACH THE ASSETS OF YOUR FAVORITE LANGUAGES! As either respected (hopefully) professionals in our field or students of Computer Science or a related discipline, or someone just interested in programming on a VAX, etc, we all know the assets or problems with using a language for a particular purpose. We also know that given a single programming task, we will perform this task given the AVAILABLE tools to properly do the work. This happens in both classwork in college or assignments in a computer-related job. If, for some reason, we do not posess the knowledge necessary to make this decision -- either because we are unfamiliar with the available tools, or do not know how to use the available tools for the task at hand -- then go to your local college or university and take a course such as "Survey Of Programming Languages" where you can gain the knowledge of many programming languages. Again, "C" is a GREAT programming language. ****BUT**** (for the last time) some companies CAN NOT and WILL NOT translate THOUSANDS of lines of FORTRAN (or other language) code to C! It is a VERY LARGE and EXPENSIVE undertaking! I have not been out of college THAT LONG to not be aware of C and what it does and its assets. HOWEVER, *I* (as well as many others out there) are *NOT* in the position to wipe FORTRAN from the face of the world. Also, there are those who would contest that C is not as good as some other language (maybe with good reason). The moral of the story... DO IT WITH WHATEVER YOU CAN USE AND FEEL CONFORTABLE USING! The best code is written by someone writing in the language they are most confortable using! Furthermore...FORTRAN is not what the acronym implies: It is not just a FORmula TRANslator. And VAX FORTRAN is not just what FORTRAN-66 or -77 is. It is a whole different animal. =============================================================================== Gil Kloepfer, Jr. ...ihnp4!icus!gil Senior Programmer (or whatever path works best Bowne Management Systems, Inc. on the day you reply!) Mineola, NY (516) 248-6840 ext 796 ===============================================================================
richard@a.cs.okstate.edu (Richard Brown) (01/01/88)
===== ta ta ta da!!!!!!!
LONG LIVE PL/I
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---- MAY THE FARCE BE WITH YOU ----
Richard Brown -- Oklahoma State University -- Computer Science
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