I would like to know if anybody knows of either a good book or web site that explains one how to use Fortran. I would like to call some of the Fortran subroutines but before I can do that I first want to learn how to code in Fortran.
Interesting question. The name "Fortran" is generally used for the current version of the language (Fortran 95), while FORTRAN often means the previous version (FORTRAN 77). Despite many advances in Fortran 95 (whole-array operations, better modularization, many safety features, and others), both versions are widely used, probably because a free compiler is available for FORTRAN 77 but not yet for Fortran 95. So the answer to your question depends on which language you want to learn.
(By the way, it's not clear to me if routines compiled with a suitable modern Fortran (95) compiler can be linked into R. I would love to have enough time to find out, but programming is a small part of my job these days.)
Modern Fortran is an excellent scientific programming language. A very good, concise book is Metcalf and Reid, "Fortran 90/95 Explained," published by Oxford University Press.
The best book I ever came across for FORTRAN 77 was by someone named Calderbank. It was thin, readable, and complete. However, I've got rid of it (since I now use modern Fortran), and it's out of print.
As Tobias Verbeke suggests, there's quite a lot of material on both languages on the Web.
A couple of more FYI's:
Fortran 95 is a proper superset of FORTRAN 77. Therefore, any standard-conforming FORTRAN 77 code can be compiled on any Fortran 95 compiler. Because FORTRAN 77 was limited in many ways, much code was written with vendor extensions. Many were incorporated into Fortran 95, and the most common others are generally available in current Fortran 95 compilers.
The next version of Fortran, which I believe will be called Fortran 2004, is expected soon. My understanding is that it includes (among other things) more features for object orientation and features for better (and more portable) interoperability with C.
I hope that helps.
Mike
-- Michael Prager NOAA Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research Beaufort, North Carolina 28516 USA http://shrimp.ccfhrb.noaa.gov/~mprager/
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