A clear reference for Fortran and scientific computing

What we publish

GFortran Reference is an independent educational publication about the Fortran programming language and scientific computing. We explain the language itself — its structure, its data types, its arrays, its input and output — and the numerical methods that scientists and engineers build with it. The material is written in a plain reference-manual style: precise statements, short examples, and no promotion of any product or vendor.

Our coverage is organized into four working sections. Getting Started walks through first programs, arrays and intrinsic functions, and reading and writing files. Numerical Methods explains root finding, linear systems, and ordinary differential equations. Performance covers what optimizing compilers do and how to improve programs by measuring first. Parallel Programming introduces coarray Fortran and the concepts behind message passing.

The Guides collection maps out the whole field for newcomers, and the Resources section holds quick-reference material such as the Fortran intrinsics quick reference.

How to use this site

Start with the Getting Started with Fortran guide if the language is new to you, then follow the links at the end of each article to keep reading. Every article closes with a short list of related pages, so the sections read naturally as a connected course rather than isolated notes.

All of our articles stick to well-established public knowledge: the history and features of the language standards, and mathematics that has been in the textbook record for a long time. We do not publish benchmark comparisons, product recommendations, or price information, and we do not distribute software or link to downloads.

GFortran Reference is not part of the GNU project and is not produced or endorsed by the GNU Fortran compiler team. You can read more about our mission and standards on the About page, and send corrections or topic ideas from the Contact Editorial page.