Computing for Numerical Methods Using Visual C++

PREFACE

Computing for Numerical Methods Using Visual C++ has been written to promote the use of Visual C++ in scientific computing. C++ is a beautiful language that has contributed to shaping the modern world today. The language has contributed to many device drivers in electronic equipment, as a tool in the development of many computer software programs, and as a tool for both research and teaching. Therefore, its involvement in providing the solution for numerical methods is very much expected.

Today, research has no boundary. A problem for study in a topic in research may involve people from several disciplines. A typical problem in engineering for studying the effect of chemical spills in a lake may involve engineers, chemists, biologists, medical doctors, mathematicians, economists, urban planners, and politicians. A comprehensive solution that satisfies all parties can only be produced if people from these disciplines cooperate, rather than having them acting as rivals.

Numerical computing is an important area of research in science and engineering. The topic is widely implemented in the modeling of a problem and its simulation. Additional work involves visualization, which makes the problem and its solution acceptable to the general audience. In the early days of computing in the 1960s and 1970s, the solutions to problems were mostly presented as text and numbers. A programming language like FORTRAN was the dominant tool, and there were no friendly interfaces to present the ...