From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.2 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,56250291936154a0 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: kilgallen@eisner.decus.org (Larry Kilgallen) Subject: Re: Where is the elusive jump command? Date: 2000/03/30 Message-ID: <2000Mar30.110943.1@eisner>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 604395373 References: <38D771CA.D41AF9B5@port.ac.uk> <8bq7ku$mc8$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <38E0E723.C39C392@quadruscorp.com> <8brfm4$4uc$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <38E240D1.DB36C983@quadruscorp.com> <38E2333B.2109F2BB@lmtas.lmco.com> <8bu4ek$412$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <8bul06$9aa1@news.cis.okstate.edu> <38E396E7.45941282@quadruscorp.com> X-Trace: news.decus.org 954432587 13624 KILGALLEN [216.44.122.34] Organization: LJK Software Reply-To: Kilgallen@eisner.decus.org.nospam Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 2000-03-30T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: In article <38E396E7.45941282@quadruscorp.com>, "Marin D. Condic" 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.