Future Versions

The homogeneity and ease of use of SLALIB could perhaps be improved in the future by turning to object-oriented techniques, in particular through the C++ and Java languages. For example ``celestial position'' could be a class and many of the transformations could happen automatically. This requires further study and would result in a complete redesign. Various attempts have been made to do this, but none as yet has the author's seal of approval. Furthermore, the impact of Fortran 90 has yet to be assessed. Should compilers become widely available, some internal recoding may be worthwhile in order to simplify parts of the code. However, as with C++, a redesign of the application interfaces will be needed if the capabilities of the new language are to be exploited to the full.