# An evaluation of risks associated with relying on Fortran for mission critical codes for the next 15 years

**URL:** <https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/t/an-evaluation-of-risks-associated-with-relying-on-fortran-for-mission-critical-codes-for-the-next-15-years/5644>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [April 24, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/t/an-evaluation-of-risks-associated-with-relying-on-fortran-for-mission-critical-codes-for-the-next-15-years/5644 "2023-04-24T22:22:43Z")\
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**Author:** ![zaikunzhang](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/fortran-lang.discourse.group/zaikunzhang/32/785_2.png) [@zaikunzhang](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/u/zaikunzhang)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/t/an-evaluation-of-risks-associated-with-relying-on-fortran-for-mission-critical-codes-for-the-next-15-years/5644/41 "2023-04-29T14:25:25Z")

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There may be a misunderstanding that the matrix multiplication in matlab is not performant, or is used when “performance is not the primary concern”. I am sorry but this is wrong.

The matrix multiplication in matlab works much (much) better than the intrinsic `matmul` of Fortran compiled with the default compilation options, no matter which compiler it is. See the comparison at

> [@Testing the performance of \`matmul\` under default compiler settings](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/t/testing-the-performance-of-matmul-under-default-compiler-settings/4096):
>
> Further to the discussion under [Automatic arrays and intrinsic array operations: to use or not to use?](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/t/automatic-arrays-and-intrinsic-array-operations-to-use-or-not-to-use), I did some more tests on the performance of matmul under the default settings of the compilers. Here, matmul is only an example of Fortran’s intrinsic matrix/vector operation. There are many others. They are core strengths of Fortran, and I hope they are robust and performant by default. (Or, how to argue that we want these intrinsic functions to perform poorly by default? How to explain suc…

Sure, the matrix multiplication in matlab cannot work so well without the Fortran library behind it.

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_[View the full topic](https://fortran-lang.discourse.group/t/an-evaluation-of-risks-associated-with-relying-on-fortran-for-mission-critical-codes-for-the-next-15-years/5644)._