[Beowulf] Teaching Scientific Computation (looking for the perfect text)

[Mike Davis]

Vincent Diepeveen wrote:
> There is several ways to look at this issue.
> Suppose your students totally fail as physics student and even more as 
> future manager/teamleader and continue as computer science students.
>
> Then what language can they use best?
>
> If you open a job site, you'll find biggest companies interested in a 
> few languages: C++, JAVA, C#
>
> You'll find near to zero C jobs and even less Fortran.
>
I have a staff of 5. Of these 3 are conversant in Fortran. Our ages are 
52, 43, and 40. We deal with fortran on a daily basis to support our HPC 
users in Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical 
Engineering, and occasionally even statistics. Supporting these users 
represents over $20 Million of direct funding to the University.


I remember a time in the mid 1980's when I questioned the value of 
Fortran. But it's still here, it's still used, and we still need people 
who understand it to answer the next generation of questions in the 
basic sciences.


Mike Davis