Fortran 95 Handbook (Scientific and Engineering Computation)

Rating:
Summary: Useful, but needed information hard to find
Review: I am an experienced user of Fortran 77, who is returning to Fortran after several years absence. I qualified as language lawyer for Fortran 77 and could quote chapter and verse of the standard.

The new syntax for Fortran 90/95 is fairly straightforward. I need to no how the new elements of the language inter-relate. For example, when assumed shape arrays are used in a subroutine, an interface definition is required. I tried reading this book before attempting this and could not find the requirement. Even after learning this experimentally and from another book, I still can't locate the requirement in this book. I have had similar experiences with other syntactical inter-relationships.

This book contains a lot of information on Fortran 90/95, but I can't recommend it either as a tutorial or as an advanced reference. Unfortunately, there are no other good alternatives in print and this may be the best of the bunch.

Rating:
Summary: Complete language reference, but not for rookies
Review: This book covers the complete FORTRAN 95 language definition. The author apparentely intended it as clarifification of the ISO/J3 standard. And that's just what it is. This book even reproduces the complete official F95 grammar in one of its appendices. It has a more-than-complete index, which helps you find what you're looking for most of the time. Don't expect examples in this book; there aren't any.

If you're new to programming and you wish to learn FORTRAN, don't buy this book. You cannot learn the language from it, unless you already have a lot of programming experience in F77 or other languages. If you want to know all the capabilities and limitations of F95, or if you're going to write an F95 compiler, this book has got to be the number one book on your wishlist.

Rating:
Summary: A thorough reference to Fortran 95.
Review: This is not a textbook, but it is an important reference for the Fortran 95 programmer. It covers the features inherited from Fortran 77 as well as the new features in Fortran 90 and 95.