On Sep 26, 2006, at 6:27 PM, Daniel Stenning wrote:
I've always been curious, not ever having used Fortran - what is
it about
that language that makes it run such mathematical stuff so well ?
Compiler optimizations and it's main runtime libraries are optimized
for numerics
Is it just that they have a very well written and optimised math
library ?
Yes
Is it something about how they organise and process data?
No
Fortran was, the last time I used it, a nasty language to write most
anything in - but great for numerics
Is there something fundamental to the language syntax that makes
for speed ?
No
Or is it just that it has lots of built in well optimised matrix/
vector
style commands? And if so - arent there possibly C++ libraries
that do
exactly the same ?
Accuracy and speed in numerics are fortrans forté
C++ and C's numeric libraries are not quite on par with fortrans
THis IS slowly changing as people use C and C++ for more and more
areas where other languages tended to have more power or flexibility.
My point is that C and C++ are widely used even though they may not
be "the best" choices & people who are competent in them are readily
available.
Why ?
Because they have solid stable runtimes and perform well enough even
though there may be alternatives that could gain a bit of speed.
RB needs to have those same characteristics to gain wider acceptance
as a quality, general purpose tool._______________________________________________
Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode:
<http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/>
Search the archives of this list here:
<http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html>
