Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site oddjob.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!lll-crg!dual!qantel!ihnp4!oddjob!paul From: paul@oddjob.UUCP (Paul Schinder) Newsgroups: net.lang Subject: What language do you use for scientific programming? Message-ID: <909@oddjob.UUCP> Date: Mon, 12-Aug-85 23:23:12 EDT Article-I.D.: oddjob.909 Posted: Mon Aug 12 23:23:12 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 17-Aug-85 06:24:51 EDT Reply-To: paul@oddjob.UUCP (Paul Schinder) Organization: U. Chicago, Astronomy & Astrophysics Lines: 31 I've been curious for a while what scientist/engineering types on the net use for scientific programming. I know the low regard in which fortran is held by the systems types on the net, but I haven't found anything better than fortran to use. I know C as well as most of you systems programmers, but I very rarely use it in my scientific programs, mostly only if I need pointers. I am learning Pascal and Modula-2, but they have the major weaknesses of no double precision data type (a question to compiler writers: why when you have only one real type do you choose the least precise rather than the most precise that the machine can handle?), clumsy i/o, and no exponentiation operator. C shares the last two weaknesses. I know a little Forth and will be learning more, but I can't see keeping track of a stack during a major calculation. The advantages of fortran in my opinion are 1. at least two real precisions, 2. standard and powerful i/o routines, and 3. very wide availability with great portability (because of the existance of a standard for the language). Is there any other language which shares these properties but also has some of the constructs I would like to use (while, do ... while, case, structures, pointers). Perhaps the answer is fortran itself; what new features does the upcoming revision to the fortran standard have? Reply via e-mail; if there is a large enough response, I'll summarize in a few weeks. Thanks. -- Paul Schinder Astronomy and Astrophysics Center University of Chicago uucp: ..!ihnp4!oddjob!paul arpa: oddjob!paul@lbl-csam.arpa