Why C?

You may wonder why I chose C instead of Python. There are a few reasons:

1. Performance

   This one is obvious. As a low-level language, C is much faster than Python, and performance is essential for large-scale / long time scale simulations. Some may argue that Python could also be fast with the help of Cython or Numba, but it would never be as fast and as simple as just writing in plain C. Besides, it is tempting to write fast but obscure Python code, but readability is a priority for me.

   At the very beginning, the project is written in Python with NumPy. As I rewrote the code in C, I have achieved a 400x - 1000x speedup. The difference has shrunk to 50x - 100x after vectorizing the acceleration function to avoid the overhead from Python for loops.

2. Readability

   C is a small language with a small set of syntax. It doesn't have a lot of fancy features so it is easier to understand and maintain. In addition, everything is done explicitly in C, so there is no room for ambiguity.

3. Strong typing

   C is a strongly typed language and I found it easier to work with. In Python, I sometimes still find bugs caused by wrong data types, even though I am already using type hints and mypy.

Nevertheless, Python is still useful in many ways. I would argue that it is better to use Python when performance is not a concern. And it is really easy to plot graphs with Python.

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