I am planning on trying to get that Perl PDL module to run later today. But it sounds like Perl with that module might be even faster than Fortran.

It will be necessary to take a closer look at the PDL module code. But I suspect that it is quite similar to Fortran code.

Perl is free. It is extremely easy to install with Windows, UNIX I believe, and Linux. And if the PDL module gives it an extensive graphics capability then why use Fortran if Perl will do the job better and faster using similar code?

With Fortran you still need to link a graphics library. And it has no sleep command or any installed ability to talk with Windows and DOS programs or read the keyboard.

Why use roller skates to travel any distance when a car is available?