Re: Why is Ada considered "too specialized" for scientific use

["J. Clarke" <jclarke.usenet@cox.net>]

On 4/6/2010 10:03 AM, Georg Bauhaus wrote:
> Keith Thompson schrieb:
>> Georg Bauhaus<rm-host.bauhaus@maps.futureapps.de>  writes:
>> [...]
>>> C99 (note the year) has complex types,  says C hasn't.  Well, it
>>> hadn't, as some point in the last century.
>> [...]
>>
>> Unfortunately, the C99 standard has not yet been universally adopted.
>> Very few compilers fully support it.  Many support most of it,
>> but I understand that Microsoft's compiler still supports only C90
>> (with maybe a handful of C99-specific features).
>>
>> Which means that as soon as you write "#include<complex.h>", you've
>> limited the portability of your program.
>
> OHOH, scientific programs would require best use of your
> computer's resources, wouldn't they?  So
>
> (1) why run scientific programs on an OS (still largely written in C
> AFAIK ...) that by default makes a herd of programs and services keep
> your computer really busy without your program running, and
>
> (2) why not use a better C compiler (if it has to be C) even on
> MS Windows, such as the ones listed below---if it has to be C?
>
> (I should add that the MS OS is purchased at a higher price
> than most alternatives, too; price was a listed as an issue.)
>
> But indeed, even though there is C in Windows NT,
>
> "Thanks for taking the time to send us your suggestion. Currently, there are
> no plans to implement C99 support in VS2010. Once we complete this product
> cycle, we will be reviewing all customer suggestions, including this one, for
> our future planning.
>
> "Thanks,
> Mark Roberts
> Visual C++ Team"
>
> http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/485416/support-c99
>
>
> So for scientific computing, MS C will be a less attractive choice
> than GNU C or Intel C, or Comeaucomputing's C on top of MS C adding
> C99 to MS C, or ...
>
> Or less attractive than compilers for one of the other
> languages such as Ada or Fortran or ... that support both fairly recent
> standards and computing with complex numbers.

What is the objection to using the C++ complex library?