a question about GSL matrix

[Jianhua Zhu]

Dear GSL Team,

I am wondering why GSL choose such a complicated representation for
matrices. As an engineering student, I have some experience with
several numerical libraries. They simply use the type * and type **
for vectors and matrices respectively. GSL's scheme looks professional.
But I cannot see the advantage. In addition, I feel GSL does not pay
enough attention to efficiency. To read and write a cell in a
matrix, at least one multiplication and three additions are needed (as
shown in the frequently called function gsl_matrix_get()). 

Sincerely,
Jianhua