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,fd3a5ba6349a6060 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Marin David Condic Subject: Re: should I be interested in ada? Date: 1999/02/15 Message-ID: <36C8413C.A5122F7A@pwfl.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 444604785 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: condicma@bogon.pwfl.com References: <7a72e6$g55$1@probity.mcc.ac.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: Pratt & Whitney Mime-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: diespammer@pwfl.com Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1999-02-15T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Phillip Helbig wrote: > Is there any reason to use Ada as opposed to Fortran95 for my stuff > (mainly number crunching, numerical analysis etc, some home-grown > graphics software, relatively simple text processing etc; almost all > code I use is my own)? > It's been quite a while since I've used Fortran and I'm not familiar with the latest iteration of the language, so I couldn't provide you with any sort of reasonable comparison. But what I can do is point out that Ada95 has excellent numeric capabilities in its own right. Ada gives you the ability to precisely specify the accuracy required for numeric types and gets very explicit about he semantics of the numeric operations. So if your calculations are sensitive to these issues, you stand a pretty good chance of conducting analysis and getting what you need from the compiler. There are also a number of numeric packages (vectors, matrices, etc.) available in Ada for the cost of some net surfing and a download. (A good place to start looking is: www.adahome.com Most of us are willing to cough up our bookmarks if you have something specific in mind.) Ada also provides mechanisims for connecting to Fortran coded subroutines so you can make use of whatever code you already have. The GNAT compiler for Ada supports the interfaces to other languages and there is a Fortran compiler (somewhere) based on the underlying gcc compiler, so there should be no problem connecting up code if this is what you base your environment on. (Sidebar: It would sure be nice to see the variety of "front ends" for gcc combined in such a way that it would be easy to have Ada, C, C++, Fortran and ??? all in the same installation. I found the gcc-based Fortran compiler available somewhere, but then did not attempt to install it for fear of messing up my GNAT installation in some manner.) Ada is a good general purpose language with a variety of add-on software libraries available, so it would support just about any programming requirements you might have. I can't say if you would be better off switching to Ada95 - only you know what your precise needs are. But I can say that there is no reason you would *not* be able to do numerical programming if you chose Ada95 and there are many advantages to going this route. MDC -- Marin David Condic Real Time & Embedded Systems, Propulsion Systems Analysis United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney, Large Military Engines M/S 731-95, P.O.B. 109600, West Palm Beach, FL, 33410-9600 Ph: 561.796.8997 Fx: 561.796.4669 ***To reply, remove "bogon" from the domain name.*** "Crime does not pay ... as well as politics." -- A. E. Newman