This is all very interesting, but I am confident that Java
will be successful for numerical computing. First, Sun is
being responsive to requests from Java Grande and from other
vendors about IEEE floating point and other issues. Also,
efficient compilers are certainly possible and just a matter
of time (soon, according to Gosling). Perhaps most important,
Java supports all kinds of useful mathematical abstractions.
The ucar.multiarray package, and VisAD Fields are two very
interesting abstractions of the notion of array based on
object-oriented designs.
Cheers,
Bill
----------------------------------------------------------
Bill Hibbard, SSEC, 1225 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706
whibbard@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 608-263-4427 fax: 608-263-6738
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/vis.html
"kill cross-platform Java by growing the polluted Java market"
- from an internal Microsoft planning document
