The legacy of FORTRAN

[D Gary Grady]

> >... and found out that 90% of C programmers
> >use i and j as index variables.
> 
> Which just goes to show that the FORTRAN integer type names will always be
> with us.
> 	<mike

Actually, the tradition is much older than Fortran.  Indices are
traditionally i, j, k, and n in mathematics.  And a, b, c, etc. are used
for parameters and x, y, z, etc. for variables.  Fortran just attempted
to follow an older tradition.

Remeber that prior to the mid-50s sometime, the word "computer" was a
job title for someone hired to perform calculations!
-- 
D Gary Grady
Duke U Comp Center, Durham, NC  27706
(919) 684-3695
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