Programming language
Webb
cwebb at polarnet.com
Sun Jul 20 06:31:44 GMT 1997
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Christopher E. Hill wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>Hello,
<BR> I am wondering what is the
best language for doing engineering type
<BR>work is. What I would like to have is the abilty to do basic
<BR>multiplication, exponents, logs, inverse trig functions, and dot and
cross
<BR>product. I also would like to have the program run under windows,
or at
<BR>least DOS. Any and all help is appreciated!!
<P>Thanks,
<P>Christopher E. Hill--chill6 at utk.edu</BLOCKQUOTE>
You're going to get lots of people telling you to use "C".
I can't disagree - exactly. C has the advantage that not only can you write
windows, and DOS (and most other platform) code, but there are small C
compilers that let you write the code for any microcontroller projects
in it - (see the 332 archives on this board <A HREF="http:\\efi332.eng.ohio-state.edu/efi332">http://efi332.eng.ohio-state.edu/efi332/</A>
)
<P>C has a long learning curve. If you aren't a computer type, it may be
more than you want
<BR>to deal with.
<P>A program called "labview" <A HREF="http://digital.natinst.com">http://digital.natinst.com</A>
has the shortest learning curve I know. Programming is all done visually,
no text code at all, and it is oriented toward a lab environment (objects
like oscilloscopes, voltmeters etc can be included with a drag and drop)
<P>The easiest compiler with any actual code is probably Borland's Delphi.
It lets you write fast, tight code, and the front end of the program is
mostly drag and drop.
<P>If you insist on C, then there is a new program available from Borland
called C++ Builder that is exactly like Delphi, but uses C++ instead
of pascal (or Basic) as it's underlying language. It generates windows
based C code, and does all the hard stuff (the windows interface) for you.
It is available for a free trial download at - <A HREF="http://www.borland.com\/download.html">http://www.borland.com\/download.html</A>
<P>By the way, your concern about what functions the language "has" is
largely irrelevant. If you want a cross product for example, you just get
a library of engineering functions (or write your own) - they are available
in the public domain from many FTP servers and BBS's (my favorite is JDR
microdevices BBS- Gigs of C and pascal stuff). Then your program just referances
that library file with a #include (C) or a "Uses" (Pas) statement, and
you have what amounts to a customized language, with everything you want
in it.</HTML>
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