It is very likely that if you have come to this site, you may well be inexperienced with programming in general and with FORTRAN in particular.
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How to use this courseīefore you start the course, you should install the compiler.This is described in Worksheet 1. For a good list of compilers I suggest you check. In suggesting that you use Silverfrost, I am in no way suggesting that it is in any way superior to other FORTRAN compilers that are on the market. The supplied library provides a wealth of high level subroutines and functions such as data sorting routines, serial communications, random numbers, and many more. It comes with a built in debugger so you can check your code for errors at run time. I recommend it because it is very easy to use and install. There are several free compilers and integrated developer environments available, but I have many years experience of the Silverfrost FORTRAN compiler, and PLATO IDE. The examples will compile perfectly well with FORTRAN 90 or 95. As this is a beginner's guide I have focussed on the core language. There are libraries of numerical algorithms available that shortcut coding. The precision of calculation can be selected according to the need of the calculation. It is particularly useful for scientists and engineers as there are inbuilt functions for handling mathematical constructs such as matrices. It’s a good language for beginners as it is easy to learn and widely available. I have chosen FORTRAN for a number of reasons. I'm focussing on programming best practice - this is not intended to be an in-depth study of FORTRAN.
Once you have a firm concept of what programming is all about you will find it easy to learn other languages. My experience is that most people who need to write computer programs know several languages, and often these are self taught. The emphasis in this course is to learn how to program rather than to learn FORTRAN. This FORTRAN study guide is a "hands on" introduction to programming using FORTRAN.