Beginning Fortran for Science and Engineering Students

Name: Beginning Fortran for Science and Engineering Students
Rating: 3.9 (186 reviews)

When You Need to Crunch Numbers

Created byRobert Spall

Last updated 3/2021

English

What you'll learn

Students will learn the basics of Fortran programming with simple applications in the fields of science and engineering.

Course content

9 sections • 34 lectures • 2h 24m total length

Introduction and Background5:42
Shows where to download and install either the g95 or gfortran compiler, compiler options, etc.
I have added a new Section 8, Lecture 29 for a quick demonstration on how to set up a simple environment to write, compile, and execute your codes.
Section 8 will hold lectures developed after the initial release of the course (so that I do not have to record everything all over to keep lecture numbers consistent).
Program Composition4:12
Understand the 3 basic "sections" of a Fortran code.
Data Types: Constants and Variables3:50
Understand basic constant and variable types.
Basic Input/Output3:49
Students should know how to perform basic input and output operations in their codes.
Assignment Statements and Operators5:29
Understand basic assignment statements and operator types.
Intrinsic Functions1:26
Have an idea of the range of intrinsic (built-in) functions available in Fortran.
Section 1 Example5:41
Students should be able to follow the basic logic of this simple Fortran90/95 program.
Compute Period of Simple Pendulum
Section 1 Quiz

Formatted PRINT Statements3:23
Students should be able to implement PRINT statements in their Fortran codes.
Formatted WRITE Statements7:46
Students should understand basic usage of the FORMAT statement in WRITE operations.
Formatted Input6:14
Students should be able to write code to open data files and read/write to these files.
Unformatted Files3:34
Students should be able to read/write to unformatted files and understand the advantages and disadvantages of doing so.
Open and Read File Practice
Quiz 5

Timing Your Code4:56
Students should be able to implement timing routines into their Fortran codes.
DISLIN Graphics Basics3:59
This lecture is a brief introduction to the graphics capabilities of the DISLIN graphics package.
DISLIN Example 13:39
This is a simple example of using DISLIN to create line plots.
DISLIN Example 26:44
This is a more involved DISLIN graphics application coupled to a problem in fluid dynamics. (Note the system will not allow the uploading of an executable, so you will need to install DISLIN and compile if you want to run towed_sphere.)
Tridiagonal Matrix Solver

Brief Introduction to OpenMP3:32
This lecture provides a very brief introduction to parallelization of Fortran codes on shared memory machines using OpenMP.
"Hello World" in Parallel2:25
Simple code to show how to begin and end parallel regions with code.
Another "Hello World" in Parallel3:32
Explore a parallel hello world with OpenMP, where input sets thread count, each thread has a private ID, prints from its ID, and uses a barrier before reporting total threads.
Parallel Do Loop4:09
Explore parallelizing a simple do loop with an OpenMP-like library, measure mega flops and wall time, and observe how private loop indices and multi-thread distribution affect speedup.
Solving the Poisson Equation3:09
Description of Red-Black iterative finite-difference scheme to solve Poisson equation in parallel.
Red-Black Iteration Code and Results4:42
The finite difference code to solve Poisson equation using Red-Black iterative scheme. Loop-level parallelization with OpenMP.

Requirements

Must have access to a computer. DOS or Linux command line processing abilities would be useful but not absolutely necessary.
Previous experience with a programming language is also helpful but not necessary.

Description

This course introduces beginning students to the basics of Fortran90/95 programming. Out of necessity, it does not cover all aspects of the language, but enough so that students will be able to write useful codes after completion. The course will be of particular value to those STEM students who would like to learn a language which has stood the test of time, and is widely used in the area of scientific computing. Also useful for those who need to work with legacy Fortran code but have no Fortran background. Previous programming experience would be helpful but is not absolutely necessary. The course assumes some basic ability to use a command-line interface. I will also provide a short introduction to the use of DISLIN, a graphics/widget plotting package that you can implement in your Fortran codes. All Fortran codes used as examples are downloadable, as are the course notes.

Who this course is for:

STEM students in high school and college wishing to learn the basics of Fortran programming.
Those interested in scientific computing.

Beginning Fortran for Science and Engineering Students

What you'll learn

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Course content

Basic Fortran7 lectures • 30min

Branching Structures3 lectures • 13min

Fortrtan Loops3 lectures • 11min

Arrays3 lectures • 12min

Input/Output4 lectures • 21min

Functions, Subroutines, and Modules3 lectures • 12min

Miscellaneous Topics4 lectures • 19min

New/Added Lectures1 lecture • 5min

Parallel Programming Using OpenMP6 lectures • 21min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: