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Comment Re:I get the impression that (Score 3, Informative) 180

The entire point of Fortran is that it has difficult-to-deal-with aliasing rules that make the compiler more free to produce optimized code. That's why it is suitable for things that require every last bit of performance you can wring out of it. Today probably you can get the same thing with C or C++ provided you are prepared to use things like restrict, but it used to be you couldn't, so Fortran ruled certain topics.

Python is an easy-to-use system with abysmal performance - expect 10-100x slowdown for code that runs in pure Python over a similar C version. If you can get things set up so Python is only gluing other C components together and the data never has to touch native Python data structures or loops, then performance will be fine, but now you aren't really coding in Python any more.

The point is, the purpose of Fortran and the purpose of Python are entirely opposed. They are exactly the opposite of each other. So it boggles the mind how you can think that Python can be Fortran "done right". So much so that now I suspect I got trolled. Well done, sir.

Yes I understand, and many people made the same point. However Fortran was for a lot of scientists and engineers the hammer to crack any nut. It was used for simple "try outs" where performance wasn't needed, simply because it was the language that Engineers knew. I think the same thing is happening with Python now, it is the first and sometimes only language that many engineers know. Now for the performance issue, it will not give the best performance but packages like SciPy and NumPy do give very good performance (arguably by using these libraries you are just using python to string c functions together, but it is properly integrated). Tests show that you are getting about a third of the performance of Fortran, (with the exception of the Fortran DGEMM marix multiply which greatly outperforms Python and other Fortran variants). The typical engineering reaction to performance needs is to throw hardware at the problem, then optimise your algorithm, and only change language if absolutely necessary!

Comment Re:Justified in the case of Muslims (Score 1) 800

Some American citizens are Muslims. Think about it

Oh, lord, not this asshole again...

We get it, Chrisq - you're bigotted against Muslims. Good for you.

Now please do us all a favor and go take a long walk off a short pier.

Realistic, not bigoted. Muslim clerics self-proclaim their aim to destroy democracy, end equality and replace Justice with a system where non-Muslims cannot testify against Muslims. Many other Muslims try to enforce this with acid attacks against unveiled muslims, bomb attacks against unbelievers, and so on. Those idiots who think that a Christian, Hindu, Buddhist or atheist are as likely to riot and kill if someone burns a book they like, or throw acid in the face of someone who dresses in a way they find provocative are the idiots.

Comment Re:Is there a chance of it hitting a satellite? (Score 1) 225

Well, geostationary orbit is about 250,000 km in circumference, and it contains about 400 satellites at present. Assuming they're each 50m wide (which is probably an exaggeration) then the satellites, in total, cover 20km of that circumference. So if we were to assume that all the satellites are in the same plane, and that the asteroid was definitely going to come in through that plane, then the chances of the asteroid meeting one of those satellites is 0.008%.

A back of the envelope calculation suggests you have the same odds of spinning around in a circle with your eyes shut and successfully pointing at a person standing 3km away.

Thanks, that's a very informative way of putting it into perspective. If I owned a satellites I would not be over-worried but would probably buy some insurance!

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