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Thinine · Jul 15, 2002, 09:09 AM

I am currently a sophmore in Aerospace Engineering and was wondering which language people here recommend for that sort of thing. I already know a lot of Fortran but due to the lack of a free Fortran 90 compiler for OS X, I want to learn a new language. I know a little bit of C++ but was wondering which language would be best. My programs are mostly command line math programs, though I was hoping to build a GUI for some of my most used programs later on. And thoughts would be good.

Gul Banana · Jul 15, 2002, 09:58 AM

Try C, because it's good for maths, easy to make command-line programs out of, and easy to integrate into Cocoa applications for a GUI. C++ is slightly more difficult to integrate with Cocoa, but otherwise has the same benefits.

smeger · Jul 15, 2002, 10:57 AM

I'd say that, as an engineer, your mandate is to get the job done efficiently, whatever the job may be. So, the answer is, learn the best language for the job.

(but, yeah, Fortran for numerics as much as I loathe it, C/C++ for everything else)

Good luck with the degree!

[ 07-15-2002, 11:58 AM: Message edited by: smeger ]

Detrius · Jul 15, 2002, 12:01 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Thinine:
I am currently a sophmore in Aerospace Engineering and was wondering which language people here recommend for that sort of thing. I already know a lot of Fortran but due to the lack of a free Fortran 90 compiler for OS X, I want to learn a new language. I know a little bit of C++ but was wondering which language would be best. My programs are mostly command line math programs, though I was hoping to build a GUI for some of my most used programs later on. And thoughts would be good.<hr /></blockquote>There is a free Fortran 77 compiler. I'm not familiar enough with Fortran to know the difference, but you can get it via fink. It's called g77, a part of the gcc compiler.

Evangellydonut · Jul 15, 2002, 01:39 PM

math programs - Fortran

language for easy interface with GUI: C++ (maybe C) (for API programming, use Visual C++ for Windoz platform, Coca or Carbon for OS X, and who knows/cares for Linux

)

language for AI: Lisp/Scheme

Generic engineer's language: C (assembly language interfact, API, and such)

Web development: Python

M$ popularized: C#
M$ trying to kill: Java (which kinda sux anyway)

Ludovic Hirlimann · Jul 15, 2002, 02:41 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Detrius:
[There is a free Fortran 77 compiler. I'm not familiar enough with Fortran to know the difference, but you can get it via fink. It's called g77, a part of the gcc compiler.<hr /></blockquote>g77 is a frontend included with Gcc. Apple's default compiler is <a href="http://gcc.gnu.org" target="_blank">GCC</a> and some people are trying to make g77 work with the new 3.1 compiler that apple should ship with the NeXT release of os X.
A front end will create some c code from the Fortrant code and then compile that C code.

Ludovic Hirlimann · Jul 15, 2002, 02:52 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Thinine:
I am currently a sophmore in Aerospace Engineering and was wondering which language people here recommend for that sort of thing. I already know a lot of Fortran but due to the lack of a free Fortran 90 compiler for OS X, I want to learn a new language. I know a little bit of C++ but was wondering which language would be best. My programs are mostly command line math programs, though I was hoping to build a GUI for some of my most used programs later on. And thoughts would be good.<hr /></blockquote>I personnally know :

Assembly : 6502,68k, some x86 and some PPC</li>
C/C++, some Objective-C</li>
Perl</li>
Unixes Shells</li>
Pascal</li>
Some forth
</li>

I'de recommand you check out the C/C++/Objective C since they are the industry standard.
Java is coming along so It be worth checking out. Now you should wait for gcc3 to be apple default compiler, then you can be sure that some people will bring g77 in working condition.
btw the Compiler enbgeeniring team at apple does not work on making g77 work because the marketing/commercial service at apple don't have a clue that Fortran support would be nice feaure to have. So please repport to apple you need Fortran on MacOSX.

kamprath · Jul 16, 2002, 01:12 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Thinine:
I am currently a sophmore in Aerospace Engineering and was wondering which language people here recommend for that sort of thing. I already know a lot of Fortran but due to the lack of a free Fortran 90 compiler for OS X, I want to learn a new language. I know a little bit of C++ but was wondering which language would be best. My programs are mostly command line math programs, though I was hoping to build a GUI for some of my most used programs later on. And thoughts would be good.<hr /></blockquote>I got my graduate degree in Aerospace Engineering, concentrating in computational dynamics. You'll find much, much code in the aerospace world in FORTRAN, so learn it. But, also learn to write really well designed C++ OO code. The aerospace industry is becoming increasingly dependent on large software projects, which means you'll have to learn how to write *good* software. FORTRAN does not lend itself to writing large, complex programs. OO-design does, and C++ is the most common for computational code that is OO.

I once wrote (for work) an n-object orbital propegator in C++. Made the state vectors, the PDE integrators, equations of motion, everything objects (in a well designed method). It took me a little longer than it would have taken me to write a 1-up FORTRAN project. However, when my next project came along, I resused all my propagator framework, rewrote my main() function, and had my new program in 1 day! Your milage might vary, but my point is FORTRAN (well, the way most engineers program in FORTRAN) woul never let you re-use code so easily.

My point is, learn sound OO software design principles to be able to write good software and build your own personal library of classes. Learn C++ because it is the most common OO language used in teh scientific community. Learn FORTRAN because you have to, but don't work in oit unless you have to.

Roxie · Jul 16, 2002, 02:00 AM

COBOL, naturally...

davechen · Jul 16, 2002, 10:31 AM

Brainf*ck!

<a href="http://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/bf/" target="_blank">http://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/bf/</a>

Purpendicular · Jul 18, 2002, 09:08 AM

Absoft has a fortran 95 compiler for MacOSX which is supposed to be excellent:
<a href="http://www.absoft.com/index4.html" target="_blank">http://www.absoft.com/index4.html</a>
Erik

Thinine · Jul 19, 2002, 02:31 AM

Yeah, and the academic cost of that compiler is $800 and thats without the AltiVec libraries.