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Re: Fortran? Why No!



I agree (partially) with Floyd James: FORTRAN isn't the most useful
computer language for scientists anymore. Although a lot of scientific code
written in FORTRAN still exists, the language of choice is now C++, of which
Java is arguably a variant. FORTRAN can't handle graphics very well, nor is
it as powerful or efficient as other languages. If you know algebra it's
easy to pick up FORTRAN, which is definitely an argument for taking your
introductory computer course in C++, which requires a different mind-set.
C++ is the language of choice when programming for Windows and for many
computer interfacing/control applications. The days when a scientist
could automatically land a job as a computer programmer are OVER. Computer
programming is a lot more complicated than it used to be. One course in
programming doesn't do it. Nobody wants FORTRAN programmers anymore. Even
BASIC has been supplanted with Visual BASIC. It's like comparing an
executive jet plane with your great-grandaddy's Model T. Do I speak C++?
Alas, no. But I still know how to use a slide rule!

Vickie

-----Original Message-----
From: Ludwik Kowalski [mailto:kowalskiL@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 10:37 AM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: Fortran? Why No!


"Floyd J. James" message ended with this:

FORTRAN is not the answer; FORTRAN
is the question. The answer is "No!"

I would like to know why? In my opinion, Fortan,
or a similar language, like True Basic, is a very
useful tool. It offers us a possibility of writing
formulas in nearly the same way we write them
by hand. What aspects of Fortran are not desirable?
Ludwik Kowalski
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