News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

genphy1976

Not sure if this counts. I utilise Prima (a numerical optimisation package developed by a Chinese prof, based on algorithms from Cambridge) in my research on nuclear physics :

https://github.com/libprima/prima

Not something as big as tencent, alibba, ..., yet useful enough for my group !

Re:LFortran Compiles Prima on Sunday March 09, 2025 @12:39PM (#43310824)
In case you appreciate LFortran and would like to sponsor its development, see

- Become a sponsor to LFortran: https://github.com/sponsors/lfortran

- Open Collective: https://opencollective.com/lfortran

- NumFOCUS: https://numfocus.org/donate-to-lfortran

Re:LFortran Compiles Prima on Sunday March 09, 2025 @12:35PM (#43310762)
For more information about LFortran, see

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LFortran

- Homepage: https://lfortran.org

- GitHub: https://github.com/lfortran/lfortran

If you like to play with it, see

- LFortran in web browsers using WebAssembly: https://dev.lfortran.org

- LFortran in Compiler Explorer: https://godbolt.org/z/EfWvsY6Kh

No, it is not difficult. It is way more than that. It is frustrating and depressing according to my experience attempting to modernize a FORTRAN 77 codebase (I gave up finally). Navigating through a quagmire of GOTO statements felt like a desperate endeavor. It's hard to fathom how someone could work on such a project for three years, especially if it appears to be a solo effort.

Upon examining the original FORTRAN code and accompanying papers, I realized that the complexity of the task was far from trivial. Working alone for three years, especially on such a complex codebase, requires a significant amount of dedication and perseverance.

These people https://arxiv.org/pdf/1307.5867.pdf use Powell's derivative-free optimization method (newuoa) in the study of the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 ( https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/MACS_J1206.2-0847 ). This is so cool!