Guide to Fortran 2003 Programming

Fortran has been the premier language for scientific computing since its introduction in 1957. Fortran originally was designed to allow programmers to evaluate for- las―FORmula TRANslation―easily on large computers. Fortran compilers are now available on all sizes of machines, from small desktop computers to huge multiproc- sors. The Guide to Fortran 2003 Programming is an informal, tutorial introduction to the most important features of Fortran 2003 (also known as Fortran 03), the latest standard version of Fortran. Fortran has many modern features that will assist the programmer in writing efficient, portable, and maintainable programs that are useful for everything from “hard science” to text processing. Target Audience This book is intended for anyone who wants to learn Fortran 03, including those fam- iar with programming language concepts but unfamiliar with Fortran. Experienced Fortran 95 programmers will be able to use this volume to assimilate quickly those f- tures in Fortran 03 that are not in Fortran 95 (Fortran 03 contains all of the features of Fortran 95). This guide is not a complete reference work for the entire Fortran l- guage; it covers the basic features needed to be a good Fortran programmer and an - troduction to the important new features of Fortran 03. Many older error-prone features have been omitted and some of the more esoteric features that are new to F- tran 03 also are not discussed.

Fortran, the premier language for scientific computing since its introduction in 1957, originally was designed to allow programmers to evaluate formulas―FORmula TRANslation―easily on large computers. However, now Fortran compilers are available on all sizes of machines, from small desktop computers to huge multi-processors. Fortran has many modern features that will help programmers write efficient, portable, and maintainable programs useful for everything from "hard science" to text processing.

This concise, accessible, and easy-to-read Guide to Fortran 2003 Programming introduces the most important features of Fortran 2003 (also known as Fortran 03), the latest standard version of Fortran. The text is organized for instruction from beginning to end, but also so that particular topics may be studied and read independently―making the work eminently suitable as a reference for professionals.

Features:

* Presents a complete discussion of all the basic features needed to write complete Fortran programs: the form of Fortran programs, data types, simple expressions and assignment, and simple input and output

* Makes extensive use of examples and case studies to illustrate the practical use of features of Fortran 03, and to show how complete programs are put together

* Provides a detailed exploration of control constructs, modules, procedures, arrays, character strings, data structures and derived types, pointer variables, and object-oriented programming

* Introduces the topic of modules as the framework for organizing data and procedures for a Fortran program

* Investigates the excellent input/output facilities available in Fortran

* Includes appendices listing the many intrinsic procedures and providing a brief informal syntax specification for the language

* Supplies simple problems throughout the book, to enable the reader to exercise knowledge of the topics learned

This indispensable textbook/reference provides a tutorial for anyone who wants to learn Fortran 03, including those familiar with programming language concepts but unfamiliar with Fortran. Experienced Fortran 95 programmers will be able to use this volume to assimilate quickly those features in Fortran 03 that are not in Fortran 95.

Walt Brainerd is the owner of The Fortran Company and has co-authored the useful Springer reference, The Fortran 2003 Handbook: The Complete Syntax, Features and Procedures.