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> Even if old code is hard to read, poorly documented, and not the most efficient, it is often faster to use old validated code than to write new code. Amen. A
by RhysU 9y ago
> Even if old code is hard to read, poorly documented, and not the most efficient, it is often faster to use old validated code than to write new code.
Amen. A one-character mistake might take a week to find as it exhibits only subtly wrong behavior (e.g. wrong grid convergence rate, overly noisy boundary condition, odd symmetry breaking beyond IEEE floating point). During that week no science happens.
- trapperkeeper74 9y agoYup. Think of C as a rusty straight razor and Fortran as a barn full of rusty implements about ready to fall at any time. C++ maybe a rusty safety razor. Originally, Fortran had manual memory management, as per the times. Thankfully, the language progressed. Overall, the evolution of languages from assembly/raw instructional to procedural ones needed early languages like Fortran on which other higher-level languages, tools and OSes could be later built/bootstrapped.