Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Old Programming Languages Never Die and Don't Fade Away Either!

Author: Bob Durrett

Date: 11:57:32 02/05/04



Quote from an MSNBC article:

Forty-seven years after IBM unleashed it, Fortran (formula translation), the
original “high-level” programming language, would seem to be the infotech
equivalent of cuneiform. But it’s still widely used, especially in scientific
computing. Why has this Eisenhower-era veteran outlasted so many hardware and
software generations? “It’s partly the learning curve,” says Hewlett-Packard
Laboratories’ Hans Boehm, former chair of the Association for Computing
Research’s special-interest group on programming languages. “For some people
it’s good enough, and it’s hard to let go of something once you learn it.”
Adaptability and compatibility, which made Fortran the programmers’ lingua
franca in the 1960s and ’70s, are also key to its viability. Major upgrades have
boosted efficiency and added features while preserving old versions intact. So a
vast number of tried-and-true Fortran 77 programs jibe with the current Fortran
90. Microsoft, take note.

Maybe chess programmers are missing out on the best language of all!

Bob D.



This page took 0.01 seconds to execute

Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700

Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.