From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Message-ID: <641222.7607.qm@web83910.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 12:11:32 -0700 From: "Brian L. Stuart" To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net> In-Reply-To: <13426df10909021147m56035edaw13e5f8a4185c027e@mail.gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Subject: Re: [9fans] nice quote Topicbox-Message-UUID: 5faeab22-ead5-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025 > > Q: "Will C continue to be important into the future?" > > (Dave Kirk, Nvidia)A: "No, I think C will die like > Fortran has" > > let me explain the joke. In HPC circles, people have been > predicting > the death of fortran for 30 years. Fortran has continued to > grow and > thrive. The predictions continue, but the latest fortran > standard > includes objects. > > So, what Dave is saying, tongue in cheek, is that C will > die in the > way fortran has -- i.e., not at all. I just hope standards committees don't "enhance" C into Frankenstein's monster. That reminds me of another amusing story. It seems that back in the 70s or 80s someone asked some big name in CS what people would be programming with in the year 2000. His response: "I don't know, but it'll be called FORTRAN." This isn't your father's FORTRAN... BLS