Class Information: 2012

• Instructor: Prof. Paul Tackley, room NO H9.1, ptackley@ethz.ch, 044 633-2758
• Schedule: NO F39, 10:15-12:00 Thursdays from 20.09-13.12.2012, excluding 01.11 & 06.12 (11 classes)
• Grading: 3 KP on weekly assignments; 1 KP (optional) on a semester project - writing a program for a scientific application to be agreed upon individually.
• Description: FORTRAN 95 is a modern programming language that is specifically designed for scientific and engineering applications. This course gives an introduction to programming in this language, and is suitable for students who have only minimal programming experience, for example with MATLAB scripts. The focus will be on Fortran 95, but differences to Fortran 77 will also be covered for those working with already-existing codes. A hands-on approach will be emphasised rather than abstract concepts, using example scientific problems relevant to Earth science.
• Computing requirements: A computer is needed during lectures. Most students prefer to bring their own laptop with a suitable Fortran95 compiler installed (see below). There are also a few Linux PCs and MacOSX workstations available in the classroom. A computer is also needed to finish the weekly assignments.
• Books etc.: There is no required book, but a book might be useful. Class notes (posted here each week) + free online tutorials listed below + a free reference manual (such as the one listed below downloadable as PDF from Intel) might be sufficient. If you would like a book, two that get good reviews are: "Fortran 95/2003 for Scientists and Engineers" by Stephen J. Chapman, or "Modern Fortran Explained" by Michael Metcalf, John Reid, and Malcolm Cohen (the previous version "Fortran 95/2003 Explained" would also be fine for this course). Alternatively, look in a good technical bookstore for something that seems well written and easy to follow.

Fortran 95 compilers

The most convenient way to do the exercises might be on your own computer after installing a compiler. The main choices are listed below. gfortran is the most universal/popular, is completely free and can be used on Windows, MacOSX or Linux. For Windows, the silverfrost compiler seems to work well: this is free on your own computer, but on an ETH-owned machine it would be necessary to buy a license. Possibly the best compiler is the one by Intel, which works on Windows, MacOSX and Linux. ETH has a site license for it that employees can use, but unfortunately this isn't available for masters students. A drawback is that your computer must be networked so it can connect to the central ETH license server.

gfortran: Developed by the GNU, the free software foundation. See http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/GFortran. Recent versions of Linux will have this on the installation disk. For MacosX, make sure you first install Xtools (up to Snow Leopard this is on the installation disk; from Lion it is an App that can be downloaded); and a convenient place to download is http://hpc.sourceforge.net. For Windows I recommend using gfortran with the cygwin environment (www.cygwin.com)

silverfrost (for Windows): free for personal use, download from http://www.silverfrost.com/.

Intel Visual Fortran Compiler: download from ides.ethz.ch. Documentation here.

Useful editors that highlight Fortran syntax: emacs or xemacs (unix-based), for MacOSX: aquamacs (here), smultron (here)

Free resources on the internet

1. A manual. A good one is the Intel Fortan Language Reference Manual (download PDF file from Intel).

2. Tutorials

• Online Fortran 90 Tutorial by C.-K. Shene at Michigan Technological University.
• PDF Introduction to FORTRAN 90 at the Queen's University of Belfast
• Various course materials downloadable from Liverpool University, including an interactive course that assumes a basic knowledge of programming.
• Some concise summaries by Michael Metcalf downloadable from CERN.
• User notes on Fortran programming (an open cooperative practical guide)

3. General information and/or pages of links to relevant sites

• The wikipedia page: background and historical information, also on wikibooks.
• Links to various information at in this PDF file from fortranplus.co.uk.
• Discussion of Fortran90 versus C++ for scientific programming.
• Advantages of Fortran compared to C for scientific programming.
• Links to useful libraries and other software at Lahey.

4. Unix tutorials

• At Brown University
• At Indiana University
• PDF guide by Victor Gedrix
• At Surrey University

Topics to be covered

• History of fortran
• Language elements
• Data types and declaration
• Arithmetic expressions
• Comments
• Intrinsic (built-in) procedures (functions)
• Simple input and output
• Derived data types
• Arrays (including dynamically-allocated)
• Logical and comparison expressions
• Control statements (conditionals, loops etc.)
• Program units (functions, subroutines, modules)
• Complicated input and output, interactive and to files
• Character processing
• Pointers
• Useful mathematical libraries

Class schedule and handouts (including exercises)