Re: Where is the elusive jump command?

[kilgallen@eisner.decus.org (Larry Kilgallen)]

In article <38E396E7.45941282@quadruscorp.com>, "Marin D. Condic" <mcondic-nospam@quadruscorp.com> writes:
> David Starner wrote:
>> You might be surprised, though. The Comp Sci department still offers
>> Fortran 77 (taught by the prof who was a graduate student when Fortran
>> first appeared), and the Engineering Department forces all engineering
>> students to take Fortran 90 (Intro to Engineering Programming). That CS
>> Fortran class has more enrollment than the Ada class, too.
>> 
> Aside from the fact that there is tons of Fortran code lying around
> already, is there any reason why "number crunching" or
> "scientific/engineering software" couldn't be taught/done in Ada?

There also tons of fellow number-crunchers around who are using Fortran.
Finding a scientist in your lab who both understands your problem
domain and understands Fortran is easier than one who understands
your problem domain and understands Ada.  This is simple statistics,
unrelated to issues of what language is better for any purpose.

A similar situation exists in the Medical industry with the
programming language MUMPS (since renamed to just "M").  That
language is preferred in that problem domain, making it hard to
introduce new paradigms to that industry, like privacy of patient
records and the individual authentication of users such a bold move
would entail.

It could be argued that Ada is preferred in the missiles and
aircraft market.  It seems to be gaining in the railroad market.