FYI, here are some comments from the MATLAB newsgroup about Fortran:
(begin quote)
> I see Fortran as a language that's continually changing to
> try to keep up with more modern languages.
There is one sole reason for teaching (and learning) Fortran
these days: To be able to read and understand old code, in
order to ****t the algoprithms to some other language.
The fortran language as such is obsolete.
> The die-hards
> always claim that Fortran is fast because its simplicity
> makes it easier for compilers to optimise (undoutedly true
> for Fortran 66 constructs).
Not quite true. The reason Fortran is fast is that it
lacks dynamic memory management (that was added in
fortran 90 or 95, a mere 15 years ago). Everything is
easy once the memory maps are fixed at compile time.
> And then in the next breath
> they point out all the new features added to the latest
> (77, 90, 95, ...) version that have added all the
> flexibility of newer languages and are clearly are no
> easier to optimise than any other language.
Sure. Selective memory must be most convenient.
I wish I had that, too...
As for optimizations, I've played a bit with
template metaprogramming in C++ for some time now,
and it seems to be one serious beast. Templates
allow the programmer to code readable code, at the
same time it allows the compiler to do some
serious optimization.
> The newer
> incantations of Fortran just allow old code to persist (and
> fester, undo***ented and unmaintainable).
Most certainly agreed!
(end quote)
I've got my own ideas about what modern Fortran is good for and why I
still use it. I also have my own ideas about why it is fast for
certain tasks.
Before I give my own 2 cent reply to the other neswgroup, I was
wondering if the experts out there had any comments they wish to
contribute about what modern Fortran is good for, why they still use
it for new projects vs C or C++ or Java, etc., or any other related
comments. Thanks.
James Tursa
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