Imsl Fortran Numerical Library Download

There is a need for scientists and engineers to have a numerical librarythat:is free (in the sense of freedom, not in the sense of gratis; see theGNU General Public License), so that people can use that library,redistribute it, modify it ...is written in C using modern coding conventions, calling conventions,scoping ...is clearly and pedagogically documented; preferably with TeXinfo, so asto allow online info, WWW and TeX output.uses top quality state-of-the-art algorithms.is portable and configurable using autoconf and automake.basically, is GNUlitically correct.There are strengths and weaknesses with existing libraries:

imsl fortran numerical library download

NSWC is the Naval Surface Warfare Center numerical library. Itis a large public-domain Fortran library, containing a lot ofhigh-quality code. Documentation for the library is hard to find, onlya few photocopies of the printed manual are still in circulation.

CCMATH by Daniel A. Atkinson. A C numerical library coveringsimilar areas to GSL. The code is quite terse. Earlier versions wereunder the GPL but unfortunately it has changed to the LGPL in recentversions.

In writing a numerical library there is a unavoidable conflict betweencompleteness and simplicity. Completeness refers to the ability toperform operations on different objects so that the group is"closed". In mathematics objects can be combined and operated on in aninfinite number of ways. For example, I can take the derivative of ascalar field with respect to a vector and the derivative of a vectorfield wrt a scalar (along a path).

There is a definite tendency to unconsciously try to reproduce all thesepossibilities in a numerical library, by adding new features one byone. After all, it is always easy enough to support just one morefeature.... so why not?

If the project has a philosophy it is to "Think in C". Since we areworking in C we should only do what is natural in C, rather than tryingto simulate features of other languages. If there is something which isunnatural in C and has to be simulated then we avoid using it. If thismeans leaving something out of the library, or only offering a limitedversion then so be it. It is not worthwhile making the libraryover-complicated. There are numerical libraries in other languages, andif people need the features of those languages it would be sensible forthem to use the corresponding libraries, rather than coercing a Clibrary into doing that job.