Is FORTRAN Still Kicking?

Algorithm wrangler queries: "I'm beginning to wonder if I should invest the time in learning FORTRAN. Although it is, arcane it seems to be the best tool when it comes to demanding optimization tasks and heavy computations. C/C++ does not cut it for me - it is simply too easy to make mistakes and I find myself using half of my time hunting bugs unrelated to the problem at hand. Additionally, although tools like Matlab exist they don't provide the power that justify the huge price tag they carry. I find any script based language (Matlab, Numeric Python, Scilab) to be inadequate as soon as it is necessary to use loops to describe a problem and using such tools for recursive systems can be a real pain. As another data-point, the Netlib repository seems to be very FORTRAN oriented, and it is a true gold mine when it comes to free routines for solving almost any computing task. What bothers me though is that FORTRAN code is really ugly and the language lacks almost any modern day language feature (I know about Fortran 90 but it is not much nicer than F77, and no one seems to use it). Can it really be true that the best tool we have for heavy duty computing is a 25 year old language, or have you found anything better - free or non-free?"

Comments

Re:A beauty all its own

[jazman_777]

FORTRAN was one of the first languages that I learned and although I don't use it much now it still has a special place in my heart. I always found its simplicity and structure sort of comforting.

I always liked how I could define variables on the fly anywhere in the code. Really catered to my total lack of organization and self-discipline. I can do that in Perl, now, too!

I still shudder...

[Subcarrier]

FORTRAN has the same kind of cherubic appeal as a very very large hirsute man wearing a tutu.

You can leave FORTRAN behind, but you can never forget it. Sometimes, I wake up at night, thinking about it -- wishing I didn't.

F**k is a swear word even in Fortran

[4dGirl]

Back when I used to work in a University Maths department we used Fortran almost exclusively. Because its quicker and easier to code up most math problems in Fortran rather than C and because of the extensive numerical libraries available. The compiler we used would tell you off if you used swear words for your variable names. So of course our favourite game was looking for expletives that the compiler didn't know about. Some of them got pretty inventive!!

Re:Use Fortran 90

[the eric conspiracy]

I remember when we thought we could do anything with FORTRAN 4.

Well, it is Turing Complete.

Re:Use Fortran 90

[ebbe11]

there was no performance difference between f77 and f90, C was 10% slower than f77/90, and C++ was 100% slower.

100% slower? That means it didn't run at all!

What you probaly meant was that Fortran was 100% faster than C++.