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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
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