Goto Leads to Faster Code

pdoubleya writes "There's an article over at the NY Times (registration required) about Kazushige Goto, the author of the Goto Basic Linear Algebra Subroutines (BLAS, see the wiki); his BLAS implementation is used by 4 of the current 11 fastest computers in the world. Goto is known for painstaking effort in hand-optimizing his routines; in one case, "when computer scientists at the University at Buffalo added Goto BLAS to their Pentium-based supercomputer, the calculating power of the system jumped from 1.5 trillion to 2 trillion mathematical operations per second out of a theoretical limit of 3 trillion." To quote Jack Dongarra, from the University of Tennessee, "I tell them that if they want the fastest they should still turn to Mr. Goto."" Ever get the feeling someone wrote an article merely for the pun?

Comments

This certainly is news to me.

[trudyscousin]

I'd always been told that use of Goto led to a case of the BLAS in my code!

Throwing bricks in glasshouses, anyone?

[trezor]

Ever get the feeling someone wrote an article merely for the pun?

Good thing the headline didn't contribute to that at all.

His code is more stable than Mr. Bluescreen's

[virtigex]

Although he also writes fast code, Mr. Bluescreen was criticised for the poor stability of his code.

I failed a coding test because of this guy

[alta]

It was CIS 150, C++ was the language of the day (pascal before, java after.) I was taking an exam that was all coding. I remember extensive use of GOTO from my commodore days, so I used one in a test (the objective was to code something with as few lines as possible)

I had the shortest working code in the class but the arse hole teacher failed me for it. Said something like "we don't teach goto for a reason. Yeah, it's in the book, but don't ever use it!"

Jerk. I should post his phone number on slashdot ;)

This was a test, aimed at slashdot readers...

[Derang()]

...To see who actually reads the article.

Judging from the replies...not many people ;)

Re:This was a test, aimed at slashdot readers...

[TrappedByMyself]

Anyone who read more than a few words into it

The calls for the obligatory "You must be new here".

Re:This was a test, aimed at slashdot readers...

[veg_all]

Anyone who read more than a few words into it would've realized they're talking about a person

Wow. Slashdot article as Turing Test.

That would mean...

[LoyalOpposition]

Goto Considered Helpful?

-Loyal

Re:So my professors were lying?

[/ASCII]

You might want to read up on this page for some human interaction hints.

Re:goto is obsolete

[fdrake76]

Weren't FUNCTIONS invented for the purpose of finally getting rid of goto and labels?

I believe you are referring to Kazushige's cousin, Mr. Gosub.

Another punny name

[Riktov]

From the article:
"Robert A. van de Geijin, a computer scientist who works with Mr. Goto at the Texas Center,..."

All right, a Japanese programmer named Goto, working with a non-Japanese guy name Geijin. That's too much.

Re:No you idiots - it's not about GOTO statements

[limabone]

Oh, Goat-toe hell you spoilsport!

Re:If true...

[SatanicPuppy]

My favorite ever comment was, "If I ever saw this in the real world, I'd fire you" attached to an "A" test paper with a programming question on it I'd managed to reduce to one line of nearly incomprehensible recursion.

Re:If true...

[scheming daemons]

Of course GOTO is logical in real life. I experience this all the time:

If wife has headache, GOTO sleep

If boss is on vacation, GOTO strip bar for long lunch

If in-laws are coming over, GOTO work and pretend there is a critical problem that requires your presence all night

If technical conference is in Vegas, GOTO it

loads of examples.

If work is boring, GOTO slashdot to kill an hour or two