Trying to learn FORTRAN

[Anuj Chaulagain]

Hello Guys!
I do not have prior coding experience.
I intend on learning Python and FORTRAN together.
FORTRAN is currently demanded by my university.
Please help me with where I should start to gain mastery of this language.

Regards.

[Steven G. Kargl]

See if you can get a copy of "Modern Fortran Explained"
by Metcalf, Reid, and Cohen. It is one of the often
mentioned references on Fortran. If you're just learning,
a decent quick summary of Fortran 95 (which a few revisions
behind the current Fortran 2018 standard) is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortran_95_language_features.

PS: The name of the language is Fortran. It hasn't been
spelled as FORTRAN since 1990 or so.

--
steve

[Sjouke Burry]

Find a better university.

[FortranFan]

@Anuj Chaulagain,

Check out this site to learn Fortran:
https://fortran-lang.org/en/learn/

Also, please consider bringing the above site to the attention of instructors and other students at your university.

Best,

[Jeff Ryman]

I like "Fortran 95/2003 for Scientists and Engineers" by Stephen J. Chapman. I got the 3rd edition from somewhere online.
I also have "Fortran 90/95 explained" 2nd edition by Metcalf and Reid, purchased on eBay.

Metcalf and Reid is more reference than a book to learn from. Chapman is more of a textbook style.

Caveat: I learned FORTRAN II back in 1966 and pretty much quit at Fortran 77 with just a few Fortran 90 features because I changed careers in the late 1990s from writing radiation transport software to running other nuclear analysis software like SCALE and MCNP.

I am currently learning Modern Fortran and Python to update some of the software I wrote years ago. It is a project a former colleague and I have undertaken to complete documentation because the funding ran out.

[Ron Shepard]

On 4/29/23 9:57 PM, Jeff Ryman wrote:
> I like "Fortran 95/2003 for Scientists and Engineers" by Stephen J. Chapman. I got the 3rd edition from somewhere online.
> I also have "Fortran 90/95 explained" 2nd edition by Metcalf and Reid, purchased on eBay.

The language has been revised several times since then, with many useful
new features, so I would recommend looking for newer references. The
"current" edition of that last book is "Modern Fortran Explained", which
covers the language up through f2018.

$.02 -Ron Shepard

[gah4]

On Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 7:57:21 PM UTC-7, Jeff Ryman wrote:

(snip)

> Metcalf and Reid is more reference than a book to learn from. Chapman is more of a textbook style.

I learned Fortran, starting the summer before high school, from:

"GC28-6515-11 IBM System360 and System370 FORTRAN IV Language",
the actual IBM reference manual. (Well, actually, it was my 8th grade
graduation present.) And even after that, I tended to learn from
IBM reference manuals.

> Caveat: I learned FORTRAN II back in 1966 and pretty much quit at Fortran 77
> with just a few Fortran 90 features because I changed careers in the late 1990s
> from writing radiation transport software to running other nuclear analysis
> software like SCALE and MCNP.

And which one did you learn from?

I think I had a McCracken book from the library, but don't remember actually
learning anything from it.

[eugene_...@yahoo.com]

On Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 12:14:50 PM UTC-4, Anuj Chaulagain wrote:

> I do not have prior coding experience.
> I intend on learning Python and FORTRAN together.

This is an excellent introduction to Fortran for beginners:

"Guide to Fortran 2008 Programming" by Walter S. Brainerd.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1447167589/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

[Jeff Ryman]

I don't remember for sure what we used for FORTRAN II. We learned machine language, then SPS (assembler) and finally FORTRAN II on an IBM 1620. I think the textbook contained all three languages but it burned in a fire several years ago so I can't check. I learned FORTRAN IV mostly from the same IBM manual as you because I worked mostly on IBM mainframes from 1971 (after I came back to grad school from the Army) to some time in the 1980s when I was working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I think I picked up the few changes that were added for FORTRAN 77 from a copy of the standard. For Fortran 90 I got a copy of Redwine, "Upgrading to Fortran 90," which is excellent for someone who already knew FORTRAN 77.

[Jeff Ryman]

I have a PDF version of "Modern Fortran Explained" (up through Fortran 2018) but for the ancient software I am trying to get running, I will probably never implement any changes past Fortran 95 (in fact Fortran 77 would be sufficient if you can live with COMMON and EQUIVALENCE statements but I understand how modules are a cleaner way to handle many things), so for paper copies of textbooks/references I bought only the ones I mentioned earlier. I also have a paper copy of Redwine "Upgrading to Fortran 90." I understand that the newer standards contain many useful features for those who need them but a lot of those features I consider to be more advanced than a new learner is required to learn right away. I am intrigued by things like interoperability with C, coarrays, and derived type enhancements. For better or worse, I have no interest in object-oriented programming. I took a C/C++ class in 1999/2000 and I am still puzzled how anyone finds OOP useful, but I may just be old and cranky.

[Jeff Ryman]

I believe from a Google search that the textbook may have been Leeson and Dimitry(?), "Basic Programming Concepts and the IBM 1620 Computer" as the cover looks familiar. I couldn't find a synopsis of the contents so I'm not sure it covered FORTRAN II.

[George Schroeder]

On Mon, 1 May 2023 14:21:16 -0700 (PDT), Jeff Ryman <rym...@outlook.com> wrote:

Leeson, Dimitry, and Wallstedt, 2nd edition, has FORTRAN II. Another book that covers machine language, SPS, and FORTRAN II is "Programming the IBM 1620" by Germain.

[Clive Page]

On 01/05/2023 17:54, Jeff Ryman wrote:
> I have a PDF version of "Modern Fortran Explained" (up through Fortran 2018) but for the ancient software I am trying to get running, I will probably never implement any changes past Fortran 95 (in fact Fortran 77 would be sufficient if you can live with COMMON and EQUIVALENCE statements but I understand how modules are a cleaner way to handle many things), so for paper copies of textbooks/references I bought only the ones I mentioned earlier. I also have a paper copy of Redwine "Upgrading to Fortran 90." I understand that the newer standards contain many useful features for those who need them but a lot of those features I consider to be more advanced than a new learner is required to learn right away. I am intrigued by things like interoperability with C, coarrays, and derived type enhancements. For better or worse, I have no interest in object-oriented programming. I took a C/C++ class in 1999/2000 and I am still puzzled how anyone finds OOP useful, but I may just be old and cranky.

Fortran 2008 and 2015 added quite a few useful things in the I/O area, e.g. OPEN(newunit= ) which means you don't have to make arbitrary choices about which I/O units to use based on what you think is already in use, and minor improvements in FORMAT edit descriptors, the indefinite repeat of format items or lists, etc.

One can now also declare character items to have dynamic length (but only for scalars unfortunately, as with arrays each element has to have the same length) with automatic setting of the appropriate length on assignment. The declarations are clunky, but is very convenient when handling strings. So don't write off all the features introduced recently.


--
Clive Page

[Jeff Ryman]

Thank you Clive for pointing out those particular features! I can see where I might use the I/O features and the dynamic length character strings.

[Gary Scott]

While I have found a use for dynamically allocated strings, it alas has
little to do with strings and more with needing a dynamically sized (and
edited) "bit (character) bucket" for giant RTF fields in windows. I
have not had any difficulty with fixed length strings in 50 years of
programming some pretty darn complex applications (including interactive
and fixed output graphics, GUIs, text processors (e.g. a "profile"
executive to specify startup graphics elements via text for an
interactive editor). But it can be handy at times.