On 2011-03-04, Ed Huntress wrote:

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2011-03-03, Ed Huntress wrote:
I know, I should ask this somewhere else, but I don't trust somewhere
else...

[ ... ]

Given his intended use, I think that C (for all that I use it a
lot) is not the best choice. Among old languages, FORTRAN has massive
math libraries which could help.

[ ... ]

BTW -- with linux systems, you can usually get gcc (GNU C Compiler)
which also includes A couple of versions of FORTRAN and possibly
even ADA (A language written for the DOD patterned after Pascal,
but designed for writing serious application programs, not for
teaching as Pascal was.)

However what you *don't* get with that Fortran is the ton of
math libs -- which are usually sold to mainframe users at
serious prices. You'll get a reasonable subset, but nothing
like the massive collection which is out there in the mainframe
world.

[ ... ]

Thanks for the tips, Don. FWIW, Fortran is what I learned in college.
Actually, I took a course, but never really learned it, because we had
exactly two computers on campus, both of which were IBM 360s. I think it was
Tuesdays that I had to turn in my punch cards at the computer center. On
Monday, I'd get my output -- which almost always had an error or two. g

You could go a month or more getting one program to run right. That meant
four tries. It's a wonder we learned anything then, huh?

At least with a linux box, your turnaround is in seconds, not
days. :-) Makes learning easier.

Enjoy,
DoN.

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