Basic HTML version of Foils prepared October 16 98

Foil 31 What is the Competition?

From Integration of Scientific and Technical Computing with Enterprise Information Systems RCI North American Annual Member Executive Conference October 13-15 98 -- October 15 98. by Geoffrey C. Fox
1 So existing Grande codes are written in Fortran C and C++ with a clearly unattractive and comparatively unproductive programming environment
2 These current languages and tools are sufficient but does not seem likely that can build much better environments around them
  • Fortran77 has excellent compilers, good user base but will not be taught broadly and clearly limited in capabilities; in particular not object oriented
  • Fortran90 and HPF will not "make it" (reasons not important)
  • Subsume discussion of C under that of C++
3 Five years ago, it looked as though C++ could become language of choice (perhaps with Fortran as inner core) but this appears stalled
  • The language is complex and splintered with no agreement on Grande standards -- partly because use in Grande applications is too small to motivate standards and partly due to culture
  • Java halted C++"bandwagon"
4 So there is no competition -- Java is currently our only hope
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