"E.D.G." <edgrs...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:yo-dnwfmi7_7d-jpnz2dnuvz_hqdn...@earthlink.com...
Posted by E.D.G. on November 12, 2013
The following is part of a note that I just posted to the Perl
Newsgroup. But it is actually intended for all computer programmers who are
circulating free download software.
One of the people that I work with and I are using an important
computer program that is quite unique. It was created a long time ago by a
highly regarded scientist who passed away a while back. And he made three
copies of the program available for people as free downloads. The first is
an exe version of the program that will run on any Windows machine. The
second is the code for the program written using what is now an ancient
version of Fortran. And the third is for the same program using an ancient
version of Basic.
The professional programmer and I attempted to produce versions of
the program using a modern language. I managed the project and the
programmer did the actual work. And unfortunately, in spite of his many
years of experience he could not understand the Fortran and Basic versions
to the point where he could translate them. I recommended that he post some
notes to the Fortran Newsgroup and ask if anyone visiting that Newsgroup had
an instruction manual for that ancient version of Fortran that would explain
what the program code meant. But for some reason he chose not to do that.
And it would have taken me a considerable amount of time to attempt the
translation myself.
So, the end result is that when the program needs to generate data,
the exe version is used "as is." Or it is called from a Perl program and
given the input information it needs so that it can generate data.
The point is, when people want to make some computer program
available for use by others around the world they might want to circulate a
version of their program that has such a simple format that anyone can
understand it. And for actual use they can generate parallel versions that
have more efficient code that people who are working with that language can
understand.
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