THE DISTRIBUTION AND SOURCES OF MATHEMATICAL SOFTWARE

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the symposium on mathematical software. It also presents an assessment of the present status of mathematical software distribution and sources. The chapter describes the mechanics and development of good subroutine libraries. The advantages of subroutine libraries are: (1) one saves writing a program and (2) one should get a better program than one would write for a single application. These two advantages are sufficient to justify the existence of program libraries in every computing facility. Despite these advantages, there is a considerable body of opinion that program libraries have fallen far short of their potential. It has been repeatedly observed that ordinary users write their own programs rather than use the program library. Many reasons have been advanced to explain this situation. The most likely reason for the shortcomings in the effectiveness of libraries is a lack of appreciation of the motivations and habits of users.