This web page is intended for providing news and personal reflections concerning the Fortran 90/95 programming language, as well as engineering development in general, on the Linux platform (desktop). It can be regarded as a possible extension of the web page: Fortran 90/95 & Linux OS which is itself dedicated to the Fortran 90/95 development, and engineering development in general, on Linux platform. It is started with intention to render just mentioned web page useful and uncluttered while providing, at the same time, additional and up-to-date information concerning the above mentioned topic.

All information provided in this web page solely reflects personal opinion of the author himself. It is provided as is, with hope that it might be useful to someone.

NVIDIA® CUDA™ is a general purpose parallel computing architecture that leverages the parallel compute engine in NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) to solve many complex computational problems in a fraction of the time required on a CPU. It includes the CUDA Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) and the parallel compute engine in the GPU. To program to the CUDATM architecture, developers can, today, use C, one of the most widely used high-level programming languages, which can then be run at great performance on a CUDATM enabled processor. Other languages will be supported in the future, including FORTRAN and C++. More about CUDA can be found here. NVIDIA’s CUDA development tools provide three key components to help you get started: the latest CUDA driver, a complete CUDA Toolkit, and CUDA SDK code samples. CUDA tools are provided free of charge and can be used to create applications for a wide range of NVIDIA GPUs – from integrated and discrete GeForce® GPUs for consumers to Quadro® and Tesla™ GPUs for professional visualization and computing users. Mentioned CUDA development tools are available, free of charge, for various Linux distributions (e.g. openSUSE, Ubuntu, Fedora and Redhat). 

Articles following below have been published during the year 2008, but will be retained in this list for some time (until list becomes too long for normal reading). 

Sun Studio software delivers a high-performance, optimizing C, C++, and Fortran developer toolchain for Solaris, OpenSolaris, and Linux operating systems, including support for multicore x86- and SPARC-based systems. The toolchain includes parallelizing compilers, code-level and memory debuggers, performance and thread analysis tools, OpenMP support as well as optimized math libraries. With a next-generation NetBeans-based IDE, development of fortran 90 applications has never been easier. Everything just mentioned is FREE for download from Sun web pages here. All you need is to register.

I have installed SunStudio 12 under openSUSE 10.3 and everything works great (out of the box)! It has everything for Fortran 90/95 development (complete IDE with bundled compiler and debugger). One can create new Fortran projects for which SunStudio 12 automatically generates appropriate makefiles (.f90 and old .for files could be mixed inside the project workspace). One can also import existing projects (created for example in Eclipse Photran with Intel Fortran compiler) with existing makefiles. Legacy source code files, written in old FORTRAN 77, could be combined with new source code files, written Fortran 90/95, inside projects without any problems. Built in editor has a full Fortran 90/95 syntax highlighting feature, including brackets matching. This is truly an excellent IDE for Fortran 90/95 development on Linux OS.

There are some excellent news from the open source community regarding the Linux desktop solutions. For the first time, IBM and leading Linux distributors Canonical/Ubuntu, Novell and Red Hat will join forces globally with their hardware partners to deliver Microsoft-free personal computing choices with Lotus Notes and Lotus Symphony in the one billion-unit desktop market worldwide by 2009.

Citing shifting market forces and the growing demand for economical alternatives to costly Windows and Office-based computers, the four leaders sense an ideal set of circumstances allowing Linux-based desktops to proliferate in the coming year. Linux is far more profitable for a PC vendor and the operating system is better equipped to work with lower cost hardware than new Microsoft technology.

"The slow adoption of Vista among businesses and budget- conscious CIOs, coupled with the proven success of a new type of Microsoft-free PC in every region, provides an extraordinary window of opportunity for Linux," said Kevin Cavanaugh, vice president for IBM Lotus Software. "We'll work to unlock the desktop to save our customers money and give freedom of choice by offering this industry-leading solution." More about this story can be found here. 

IBM developerWorks is a premier technical resource for software developers, providing a wide range of tools, code, and education on AIX and UNIX, as well as on open standards technology such as Java technologies, Linux, and many more. By providing focused and relevant technical information for developers, they offer choices you can apply to building and deploying applications across heterogeneous systems. Using developerWorks, everyone can take full advantage of open standards and the IBM Software Development Platform. The depth and breadth of content for developers on developerWorks is unparalleled. You'll find roadmaps and sample IT projects for the on demand environment...technical how-to content organized by product and by technology...and special programs to get you up to speed fast with open-standards technologies and IBM products. IBM developerWorks offers information about Fortran on Linux platforms as well, for example, here. 

IBM developerWorks provide useful links for additional Fortran resources, such as for example, information concerning the Fortran 90/95/HPF programming language (maintained by Michael Metcalf) which can be found here, or information concerning the various Fortran Compilers for Linux OS, found here.

It is well known that IBM is a large supporter of Linux, from desktops to supercomputers. IBM has one of the best Fortran Compilers for Linux platforms, called the XL Fortran v11.1 for Linux. XL Fortran is a standards-based Fortran compiler with extensive features to help you create high performance applications. Advanced compiler technology lets you generate compiler output optimized to run on variety of IBM machines. It supports both Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 5 (RHEL 5) for IBM POWER and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 1 (SLES 10 SP1) for IBM POWER. It provides powerful code optimization features to tune compiler output for optimal performance across supported processor families or for best performance on a specific processor. It also provides a full compliance with the FORTRAN 77, Fortran 90, and Fortran 95 language standards. It includes a complete implementation of the OpenMP API Version 2.5 that you can use to improve program performance potential on machines featuring multiple processors. It also provides options to support application debugging with standard symbolic debugging tools. Additional info can be found here.

In 1999, IBM issued a series of announcements fully committing the company to supporting Linux. IBM vowed to Linux-enable all of their hardware platforms, including their non-x86 based mainframe, mini, and RISC-based systems. They also promised to release Linux versions of their software products and develop Linux-centric service practices. Moreover, they pledged significant resources to the Linux community with the goal of advancing Linux and open source
technology. 

So, nine years later, did IBM deliver on these promises? Was their commitment to Linux genuine or just lip service? This report examines IBM’s current Linux products, services, and community support in light of the promises they made in 1999…

I believe that everyone involved in engineering (and / or scientific) software development has been acquainted with a book: Numerical Recipes, The Art of Scientific Computing. There is a version of this book intended for Fortran 77 and Fortran 90 programmer, as well as for a C/C++ programmer. I would recommend Numerical Recipes in Fortran 90, Vol. 2 book, which has a strong emphasis on parallel programming in Fortran 90 programming language. It is in fact an addition / extension of the famous book Numerical Recipes in Fortran 77. These two books form excellent basis for engineering and / or scientific software development in Fortran 90 programming language.

This brings me to the subject of Numerical Recipes Forum, which can be found here. This forum is intended for the users of Numerical Recipes book, not just in Fortran programming language but in C++ programming language as well. Forum is organized both according to the programming language used and according to chapters in the mentioned book. Each chapter deals with specific methods (numerical procedures), such as for example Chapter 19 deals with methods of solution of partial differential equations.

openSUSE 11.0 is the latest version of the popular, free openSUSE Linux distribution. It has been just released as a stable version and can be downloaded here. The openSUSE project is a worldwide community program sponsored by Novell that promotes the use of Linux everywhere. The openSUSE is an excellent Linux distribution, featuring both KDE and GNOME desktops with literally thousands of useful applications. It is highly stable and mature Linux distribution, with everything that you might need already included (office suite, multimedia applications, CD/DVD burning, web and software development, graphics, publishing, etc), and many, many more. It is extremely easy to install and "plays well" with Windows OS. Basic review of the openSUSE 11.0 can be found here.

Photran is a full featured Fortran 90/95 IDE for Linux OS (IDE - Integrated Development Environment). It can be bundled with various Fortran compilers (e.g. Intel Fortran Compiler, F compiler, G95, gfortran, etc.). It is completely GUI interfaced, with included front-end for underlaying fortran debugger. Project development is maintained through the use of standard "make" utility and a user written makefiles. This Fortran IDE is based on Eclipse and hence highly adaptable. Its editor has a sintax highlighting for Fortran 90/95.

This is a definite must-have for every Fortran 95 developer on Linux desktop. In combination with the Intel Fortran Compiler for Linux it makes an excellent engineering software development environment. Latest version of Photran (Ver. 4.0 beta 3) supports project building with Intel Fortran Compiler out of the box (no need for user written makefiles). 

Intel offers a Fortran Compiler for Linux OS which is specially designed to exploit full features of Intel Pentium processors. It compiles code targeted for IA-32 Intel Architecture and Itanium Architecture. The Intel Fortran Compiler for Linux delivers outstanding application performance through optimization technology, threaded application support, and compatibility with leading tools and standards. This compiler fully supports multi-core processors along with existing Intel processors and architectures. Advanced optimization features deliver outstanding application performance on the latest Intel processors. This compiler supports OpenMP parallel programming for Fortran 90 and 95 language standard, as well as Fortran 77. Apart from all this, it is completely free for noncommercial use.

Absoft offers complete Fortran development suite with special tuning for both AMD and Intel processors. The compilers provides full support for the latest multi-core processors and advanced optimizers for outstanding performance on both 32-bit and 64-bit hardware.  Absoft provides a full development environment, designed for Fortran programming with each compiler at no additional charge. The development environment includes: full graphical IDE (command line use is also supported), graphical Fx3 debugger, prebuilt math libraries, 2D/3D graphics, example programs which include Fortran / C calling. Absoft tools are fully compatible with the gnu tool chain and many third party libraries. 

The OpenMP Application Program Interface (API) supports multi-platform shared-memory parallel programming in Fortran (including Fortran 77, 90 and 95 standard) on all architectures, including Linux platforms. Jointly defined by a group of major computer hardware and software vendors, OpenMP is a portable, scalable model that gives shared-memory parallel programmers a simple and flexible interface for developing parallel applications in Fortran 90 programming languge for platforms ranging from the desktop to the supercomputer. 

Latest official OpenMP specifications Version 3.0 has been published since May, 2008. It can be obtained (as a pdf file) from the official OpenMP web site. Excellent introductory tutorial on OpenMP in Fortran 90/95 programming language, which could be seen as worthy supplement to the official specifications, can be obtained (as a pdf file) here.