Why was Fortran created?

Pages: 12
I read it was created to do high end math stuff with ease but given the right libraries can't C++ do that stuff with just as much ease?
OK, so you think that time flows that way, do you? Interesting.
closed account (1yR4jE8b)
To be a bit less condescending:

Fortran -> 1957

ANSI C -> 1972

C++ appeared in 1983

People still use Fortran because there's a metric ton of code that is written in it and it's more cost-effective to just maintain instead of rewriting it, Fortran compilers have also had substantially more time to develop robust optimizations. For *pure* number crunching, you can't really beat Fortran (except for maybe straight-up ASM, but writing in Fortran is more portable).
@darkestfright

Thank you for explaining and not being condescending.
OK, so you think that time flows that way, do you? Interesting.


You say that like time is linear. :'D
Nope, a "directed" acyclic graph.
The direction depends on the sign of the charge of the electron.
Last edited on
Wouldn't "graph" imply that time has discrete states? (a finite number too, but let's not be too picky here). I don't think it works that way.
Time isn't necessarily continuous. Just because the graph would be continuously increasing doesn't mean it's not finite (the Big Bang was a clear starting point; we've had a topic on the possible ending points too).
lim f(t) = ?
t->0
@i.B

?=the equation of life
Fortran was the first compiled language (I think).
It's an abbreviation of "Formula Translation".
The compiler translated high-level formulas into low-level code.
Back in the day, this was a revolutionary concept.
@science man: Um, no? f(t) is the function of time, and ? is the limit as f(t) approaches 0...from both sides >:)
Now you just need to actually define the function (there's not just one function of time :O) and define the 0 point (epoch, the death of ludwig XIV, the last time you ate a cheeseburger?).
@xander333

Thanks for explaining that. I didn't know.

@I.B.

I knew you meant by time. I should've said f(t)=the equation of life in the sense of time. Although you are right, I did mess up by saying ?=.
:-)

Actually, according to Wikipedia, the first ever compiled language was A-0 (developed by Grace Murray Hopper)

But FORTRAN was purportedly the first complete one.

Andy

PS They didn't even let Grace retire!!!
She was then hired as a senior consultant to Digital Equipment Corporation, a position she retained until her death in 1992, aged 85.

That means I've still got more than 50% of my working life ahead of me! 8-0
Last edited on
They say time is a human creation, no other species recognizes time. Just day and night, and the four seasons. Does this mean time starts and ends with human life? Or does it just cease to be recognized?

Time does not exists - clocks exists...

:)
If that was the case, that what on earth is the thing we measure with clocks?
closed account (1vRz3TCk)
Does it only exist because we measure it?
Hardly so. If it didn't exist before we started measuring it, we couldn't have devised a method for measuring it.
Last edited on
Pages: 12