Re: Octave/Matlab gcc front end?

[Ted Harding]

> I've seen many engineers spending lots of time converting large
> Matlab/Octave m-files into C or Ada code to make them run faster.
> 
> As just as an idea, would it be possable to make an Octave front end
> for gcc so you could compile your matlab functions?  Would it
> improve preformance significantly?  I would think so if there are many
> for loops.  In a way this is a variation of the MEX-file concept, but
> in this way your m-file could be independent programs.
> 
> What do you think?
> 
>       Thanks,
>       Rick Niles.

It would improve performance enormously in some cases. I have encountered
cases where the m-file takes many minutes (even up to an hour), and it is
quicker to put the data out to a file, pass this file to a C program which
does the computation (use the "system" command) and passes it back through
a file which octave re-loads (a matter of seconds). This in fact is one
way of doing it (you just make sure the C program writes the file in the
right format), but it clashes a bit with the philosophy of a program like
octave.

It would be a great help if this were better integrated into octave.

Ted.                                    (address@hidden)