Re: The answer to "Can Ada replace FORTRAN for numerical computation?

["Nasser M. Abbasi" <nma@12000.org>]

On 7/21/2019 11:38 PM, Nasser M. Abbasi wrote:
> In 1980 there was a paper titled "Can Ada replace FORTRAN for numerical computation?"
> 
> ACM SIGPLAN Notices
> Volume 16, Number 12, December, 1981
> 
> 
> https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=954264

FYI,

I found interesting entry about Ada here also.

Page 385, Computing methods in applied science and engineering.
SIAM, 1990. I found this at google books.

<https://books.google.com/books?id=2Q1-fWkMckkC>

I am not sure what they mean near the end below
about limitation in with regard to
dynamic typing and storage allocation. Any guess?

-----------------------------
"We have made preliminary experiments developing a
two-dimensional code for the Laplace equation based on
quartic finite elements using the Ada programming language.

This language has a remarkable power of expressiveness,
something vital to the rapid development of complicated software,
and its "strong typing" makes it easy to debug and modify.

In our experiments, the compile was able to find not just
typographical errors, but also conceptual errors in the
development of the code.

These attributes allowed our experimental code to be developed
surprisingly rapidly. Moreover, the "contract" style of
programming in Ada provides a good coding environment for
software development by a group.

Ada may provide a viable alternative to the current software
development techniques, and one that will lead to more
reliable software and involve less software development time.

However, the lack of universal availability of Ada
compilers prompted us to consider using other languages.

There are also significant limitation to Ada as a language
for scientific computation, in particular with regard to
dynamic typing and storage allocation.

Fortran 8X may ultimately provide much of what is needed
for well structured scientific computing code."
----------------

--Nasser