NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #19/NN_1992_19.iso/spool/comp/edu/1475

Internet Message Format | 1992-09-01 | 3.6 KB

Xref: sparky comp.edu:1475 comp.lang.fortran:3365 comp.lang.misc:2880 comp.arch:9160 sci.math:10845
Newsgroups: comp.edu,comp.lang.fortran,comp.lang.misc,comp.arch,sci.math
Path: sparky!uunet!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!paperboy.osf.org!meissner
From: [e-mail] (Michael Meissner)
Subject: Re: Scientists as Programmers (was Re: Small Language Wanted)
In-Reply-To: Zafer KADI's message of Tuesday, 1 Sep 1992 12:41:25 MST
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Lines: 66
Sender: [e-mail] (USENET News System)
Organization: Open Software Foundation
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
    <[e-mail]>
    <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
    <[e-mail]>
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 00:28:50 GMT
Lines: 66

In article <[e-mail]> Zafer KADI
<[e-mail]> writes:

| I have been on both sides of issue (I have MS's in both Mech.Eng CS)
|
| There is no one wrong or right on the issue of :
|
| 1. FORTRAN or anyother language.
|    All you Computer Science major that think Fortran is so bad    can
| you tell me anyother language that has all the forms of numbers
| that the scinetist use such as integers, real numbers and COMPLEX
| numbers.

C++.

| Issue # 2:
|
| About having global variables or not and if making calls slows the
| program and optimization:  Yes it does.
|
| About the MIPS compiler :
|  This compiler is not faultless :
|   Example : Has a problem with complex numbers in FORTRAN when the
|             -r8  option is used (does not promote them, even though
|             it should.  If you have a DEC or an SGI they use the
|    MIPS compiler
|
|    To have the optimization of the nature that the previous person
| mentioned about the compiler is to compiler everything together.
| That will break the consept of modularity and the need to develop
| each part of the program as a subrotuine or function, since at
| the end you can insert it.   There are switches as I remember for that compiler
|  to insert code.

I'm not familar with the fortran compiler, but in general the MIPS
compilers only needs to 'compile everything together' at the highest
level of optimization.  Even then you specify multiple sources to the
compilation line, and also there is an option to generate the u-code,
so that it can do the global optimization at the final step.  Also,
I've never seen that many real world modular fortran programs.

| As you see no one will win on this.  Do you want the program to be faster or
| clearly written for your own standards.....

Not an issue.

|  Issue # 5
| I totally agree that CS majors do not have enough knowledge
| in mathematics and physics and if you are taking classes
| in Computer Graphics or Computer Aidded Design  all you CS major that
| thing that programming is everything in your job or knowing how
| the computer works will realize it isn't so.
| The above opinion is not only mine but most of the  profs in
| the CS dept. at ASU, mostly Comp. Graph. and CAGD.

IMHO, I think that for most programmers, the higher levels of math are
superflorious.  Most people in the profession don't ever use the math
they learn.  Granted some do, for example people doing scientific
codes that started the thread, but bear in mind that is a small
minority of people doing programming.  Note, I'm not advocating
eliminating the math courses....
--
Michael Meissner    email: [e-mail]        phone: [phone]
Open Software Foundation, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA, 02142

You are in a twisty little passage of standards, all conflicting.