From: bill@yossarian.ucsd.edu (Bill Reynolds) Subject: Re: FORTRAN on linux Date: 30 Jun 1993 09:58:22
Does anyone have some good experience in performing scientific calculations
in FORTRAN using linux?
I should be very interested to know the technical details, specially
regarding the behaviour of f2c translator and of the gcc compiler
for the source generated by f2c. Is there any possibility to use the
scientific libraries written in FORTRAN (e.g. NAG)?
I routinely use f2c under linux to do numeric work. I use the SLATEC
libraries, translated to C, and linked to my own drivers. I've also
used a variety of sources from the Netlib. My experience with f2c
(working on Suns with f77 installed) is that the code runs about %10
slower than native fortran, but otherwise, works without a hitch. One
problem with writing a C front end is that you have to be careful
about passing pointers in function calls and to initialize arrays in
column major order, and this can get confusing (and my codes are
confusing enough already :-). Another problem with f2c generated code
is that it's much more complicated to debug - although it is possible
- the generated C is unadulterated spaghetti.
Are there any free C equivalents?
There's always the netlib - send mail to netlib@research.att.com and
the server will fill you in on a whole bunch of freely available
numerical routines. Most are in fortran, although there are some C
routines.