C versus FORTRAN90
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From: ambi on 28 Mar 2006 12:30 Hello, I am sure this topic has been debated a number of times. We are planning to purchase a math library for my office. Because of budget limitations we can only buy one license. I must choose between the C or FORTRAN90 version of these libraries. And this brings me to my question, is C or FORTRAN90 preferable for computational work? I use (and prefer) FORTRAN because that is what I know. Are there other more subtle benefits for FORTRAN over C? The arguement by my superiors at work is that I (and all other FORTRAN users) should switch to C because that is the way the world is going (and hence buy the C version of the libraries). I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Ambi
From: Paul Van Delst on 28 Mar 2006 12:54 ambi wrote: > Hello, > I am sure this topic has been debated a number of times. We are > planning to > purchase a math library for my office. Because of budget > limitations we can only buy one license. I must choose between the C or > FORTRAN90 version of these libraries. And this brings me to my > question, is C or FORTRAN90 > preferable for computational work? I use (and prefer) FORTRAN because > that is what I know. > Are there other more subtle benefits for FORTRAN over C? The arguement > by my superiors at work is that I (and all other FORTRAN users) should > switch to C because that is the way the world is going (and hence buy > the C version of the libraries). > > I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Well, it's not really a C v. f95 question, is it? The first questions that popped into my head were: 1) what's the ratio of C/f95 programmers at your company? 2) If the answer to (1) is C heavy, then your bosses (superiors? I think not! :o) are probably right. If the answer to (1) if f95 heavy, then maybe some sort of cost-benefit analysis of a wholesale switch from f95 to C at your company should be done to convince them otherwise (assuming, of course, that the result is in favour of /not/ switching). What is the estimated cost of training all your f95 programmers in C to the level of compentency they have now in f95 and the associated downtime/lost productivity? Absent any other info, I think the cost of an extra license would be cheap in comparison. If the only reason management wants to use C is because "that is the way the world is going" then I wouldn't have too much confidence in their management decisions. Besides, I thought C was old hat now anyway? :o) cheers, paulv -- Paul van Delst CIMSS @ NOAA/NCEP/EMC
From: Steven G. Kargl on 28 Mar 2006 13:16 In article <1143567036.761949.290620(a)j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, "ambi" <a_ambirajan(a)yahoo.co.in> writes: > Hello, > I am sure this topic has been debated a number of times. Google's your friend. "C vs Fortran" returns 3,140,000 hits. > We are planning to purchase a math library for my office. Because of budget > limitations we can only buy one license. I must choose between the C or > FORTRAN90 version of these libraries. And this brings me to my > question, is C or FORTRAN90 preferable for computational work? You'll probably find few unbiased answers to your question because you've posted to comp.lang.fortran. So, yes, Fortran is better than C for computational intensive work. :-) > I use (and prefer) FORTRAN because that is what I know. This pretty much answers your question. If you get the C library, you'll need to learn C. Does your employer expect you to learn C on your own time? How much is your time worth? -- Steve http://troutmask.apl.washington.edu/~kargl/
From: beliavsky on 28 Mar 2006 13:39 ambi wrote: > Hello, > I am sure this topic has been debated a number of times. We are > planning to > purchase a math library for my office. Because of budget > limitations we can only buy one license. I must choose between the C or > FORTRAN90 version of these libraries. And this brings me to my > question, is C or FORTRAN90 > preferable for computational work? I use (and prefer) FORTRAN because > that is what I know. > Are there other more subtle benefits for FORTRAN over C? The arguement > by my superiors at work is that I (and all other FORTRAN users) should > switch to C because that is the way the world is going (and hence buy > the C version of the libraries). > > I would appreciate any thoughts on this. > Ambi Let me talk about libraries in particular. When passing an array to a C library, one must also pass its size. One need not pass array sizes to a Fortran 90 library that uses assumed shape array arguments, which reduces the number of required arguments (and thus chances to make errors). Such a library should also check that input array sizes are consistent. I'm not sure if this is possible with C. One can compare the interfaces to the IMSL C and Fortran 90 libraries at http://www.vni.com/products/imsl/documentation/index.html to confirm (or refute) the above generalizations, or compare the Numerical Recipes C and Fortran 90 libraries -- I think the books are online.
From: Ronald Benedik on 28 Mar 2006 13:40
"ambi" <a_ambirajan(a)yahoo.co.in> schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:1143567036.761949.290620(a)j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > Hello, > I am sure this topic has been debated a number of times. We are > planning to > purchase a math library for my office. Because of budget > limitations we can only buy one license. I must choose between the C or > FORTRAN90 version of these libraries. And this brings me to my > question, is C or FORTRAN90 > preferable for computational work? I use (and prefer) FORTRAN because > that is what I know. > Are there other more subtle benefits for FORTRAN over C? The arguement > by my superiors at work is that I (and all other FORTRAN users) should > switch to C because that is the way the world is going (and hence buy > the C version of the libraries). > > I would appreciate any thoughts on this. > Ambi Switching from Fortran90 to C is really a downgrade given the more powerful features of Fortran. I know both languages. C is preferred for platform interoperability and operating system interface. Fortran90 is easier to program than C for computational programs. |