Fortran 95 Language Guide

Fortran is one of the most widely used programming languages in science and engineering. Fortran 90 replaced the outmoded FORTRAN 77 in 1991 and this recent version of the International Standard enhances this version. It also includes several new features to ensure that Fortran continues to be aligned with High Performance Fortran (HPF) for parallel computer architectures. Fortran 95 Language Guide will serve as a language reference manual for programmers, provide teaching material for introductory courses in Fortran programming, and give help to experienced Fortran programmers migrating to the new standard. Gehrke has provided a comprehensive and easy-to-understand description of the Fortran 95 programming language as defined by the ISO, which will be welcomed by both practitioners and students alike.

The Fortran 95 Handbook, a comprehensive reference work for the Fortran programmer and implementor, contains a complete description of the Fortran 95 programming language. The chapters follow the same sequence of topics as the Fortran 95 standard, but contain a more thorough and informal explanation of the language's features and many more examples. Appendices describe all the intrinsic features, the deprecated features, and the complete syntax of the language. The Handbook also includs a feature not found in the standard: a cross reference of all the syntax terms, giving the rule that defines each term and all the rules that reference it. Major new features added in Fortran 95 are the 'FORALL' statement and construct, pure and elemental procedures, and structure and pointer default initialization.

PREFACE The FORTRAN programming language was designed in the 1950s and standardized in 1966. That version of the language was later called FORTRAN 66. FORTRAN 66 quickly developed into the most important programming language for the development of engineering and scientific applications. In 1978, the language was redesigned and standardized again and called FORTRAN 77. However, this FORTRAN version was not yet a modern language as far as software engineering and programming methodology were concerned. In 1991, a new version of the language was standardized. Its name is Fortran 90. This version is a powerful tool, in fact it is closer to the state of the art of high level problem oriented programming languages than other famous languages that are used for the same area of application. The next revision of the language is planned for 1995; it will be a minor revision of Fortran 90. The next major language revision is planned for the year 2000. This "Fortran90 Language Guide" is a comprehensible description of the com plete Fortran 90 programming language as it is defined in the standard docu ment [1]. It is already in accordance with the two corrigenda [2] [3] of the standard document. The standard document is a reference book for compiler writers and those experts who already know all about Fortran 90, but it is use less for beginners and rather impractical even for experienced programmers.

Fortran is currently the world's most powerful numeric language and F is a subset of this. F is a programming language which is nearly as powerful as its parent language, containing the modern language features of Fortran, yet smaller and easier to use, debug and teach than Fortran. As with his previous Fortran books, Wilhelm Gehrke has provided a clear and comprehensive guide to the F language in this book which will be welcomed by practitioners and students alike. The F Language Guide will serve as a language reference manual for the novice as well as for the experienced programmer, as teaching material for courses in F programming, and in programming methodology. The guide concentrates on the description of the language as a programmers' tool. A representation of the F Syntax using railroad diagrams will be available on the Springer server at http://www.springer.co.uk/

Digital Visual Fortran is the latest version of a major programming language tool used by scientists and engineers. Written by key technical writers from the Digital Visual Fortran product team, Digital Visual Fortran Programmer's Guide presents in printed form the critical portions of the official programmer's guide, previously only available online. The result is the authoritative book on Digital Visual Fortran's features and how to use them to create effective applications. Digital Visual Fortran is the language of choice for computation-intensive scientific and engineering applications, financial applications, and other programs. Digital recently acquired Fortran technology and rights from Microsoft that allows them to use the Microsoft Developer Studio Integrated Development Environment, which is featured in Microsoft's Visual C++ and Visual Basic. The result is that Digital Visual Fortran is much easier to use and looks and works much like Microsoft's industry-leading programming products for other market segments. The official programmer's guide to Digital Visual Fortran for Version 6.0A Authors are experts from the Digital Visual Fortran product group New Digital Fortran version include Microsoft interface and object technologies