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From: Rune Allnor <allnor@tele.ntnu.no>
Newsgroups: comp.soft-sys.matlab
Subject: Re: goto, again
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:28:35 -0700 (PDT)
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On 30 Jun, 20:43, dpb <n...@non.net> wrote:
> Rune Allnor wrote:

> >> particularly in a non-Fortran ng is simply trolling or
> >> spreading flame bait and should be curtailed.
>
> > The OP in this thread wanted to know how to deal with
> > legacy code witten in fortran. My posts in this thread
> > is an attempt to show why fortran is best left alone,
> > as the arcaic language it arguably is.
>
> And, they're totally off base. =A0The best way to deal w/ legace Fortran
> code is to use a modern Fortran compiler.

I'll tell you another anecdote. This one I watched unfold.

In 1996 I had a summer internship with one of the really
prestigious research institutions. While I was there, one
of the staff was working on some nifty numerical simulation
code. He had the best computer available at the time,
3 times as fast, MHz wise, as the competition as well as a
seriously streamlined CPU.

This guy used C or C++ (I don't remember) and he used the
modern compiler availabe at this beast of a computer.
Used every bell and whistle; squeezed every drop of
performance out of the thing.

And produced a 5-years ahead of contemporary state-of-the-
art software. As I said, I watched the guy work and I wathced
the people use his software.

A few years later, in 2000, I worked at a different research
institute. My then colleague (incidentially the same guy who
told me about the fortran 1=3D2 thing) wanted to get a copy of
this software. He got the source code and tried to compile it.

It turned out that the programmer had used the 1996 state-of-
the-art computer, a DEC Alpha running AXP. Needless to say, we
never got the simulation code to compile.

Except that 2000 incident, I never heard of or saw a DEC Alpha
after 1996.

My point is that selecting a programming language is a
gamble, at best. What is 'modern' today is obsolete
tomorrow. Once one accepts that, one sees how to handle
bad situations when they occur. There is a time to patch
worn programs. There is a time start over.

Once people younger than 55 encounter fortran, the obvious
choise is to start over with some other language. After
having documented the algorithm.

> > As I said before, I have no interest in fortran as such.
>
> ...
>
> Then I would suggest you simply ignore any thread containing the word as
> you obviously are totally out of touch w/ the current state of Fortran.
>
> You'll do far more good in letting those with actual experience and
> expertise in the area helping whoever.

My interest in fortran might be minuscule, but I do
have a strong interest inguiding innocent, unsuspecting
people away from wasting time and energy on essentially
useless efforts; they might become my colleagues some day.

Rune