Fortran 77 making an array but changing the increment value

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around creating an array in Fortran 77 that increments by 5 instead of the default increment of 1. Participants explore various methods to achieve this, including loop structures and array indexing conventions.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant asks how to create an array from 0 to n in steps of 5.
  • Another participant questions the use of Fortran 77, suggesting it is outdated but offers a method involving array indexing.
  • A participant mentions learning Fortran 77 due to a supervisor's preference, expressing frustration with the language.
  • Some participants argue that Fortran is still relevant for scientific applications, emphasizing its utility over newer languages for certain tasks.
  • There is a discussion about the correct indexing for accessing elements in the array, with differing opinions on whether to use (j+1)/5 or j/5 based on array starting points.
  • A participant explains the general format of a DO loop in Fortran, highlighting how to set the increment value.
  • Another participant provides a specific code example for creating the desired array structure using a DO loop.
  • There are multiple comments on the merits and drawbacks of C++ compared to Fortran, with some expressing a preference for Fortran's features.
  • Participants discuss the use of +1 in calculations, with differing views on its necessity and implications.
  • One participant reflects on the elegance of Pascal compared to Fortran, while acknowledging its obsolescence.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of agreement and disagreement regarding the best practices for array creation and indexing in Fortran 77. There is no consensus on the superiority of one programming language over another, with varying opinions on the relevance of Fortran in modern contexts.

Contextual Notes

Discussions include assumptions about array indexing conventions and the implications of using different programming languages. Some mathematical expressions and programming practices are debated without resolution.

1ytrewq
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Hi
I have an array going from 0 to n (where n has been previously defined) but I want the array to be in steps of 5 rather than increasing each value by 1

eg 0,5,10,15,20,25...n


how can I do this?

Thanks
 
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What makes you use F-77 ? As it name says it is obsolete by 34 years.

But if you really must do that in F77 - either don't care about memory (you have modern computer with GBs of it) and just use only 1 of 5, or be smart F77 prgrammer and write something like
REAL A(number of elements)
A(N/5+1) = whatever
 
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I'm starting a piece of working with an ancient supervisor and he only knows fortran 77 so I've had to start learning it too. Seems a completely ridiculous language from what I've learned so far

but thanks for your help
 
Fortran is still commonly used for scientific applications, I use it regularly myself - in F77 flavor. Some co-workers use Basic. Newfangled languages aren't relevant to simple scientific number-crunching applications, the odds of screwing up your results far outweighs any advantages in efficiency, interfacing, sexiness, whatever.

For every element i in your original array [0,1,2,...,n], you can access it from your preferred array [0,5,10,...,5n] element j through i = (j+1)/5.
 
JeffKoch said:
(j+1)/5.
?

Either :
J/5 - if you number arrays starting from 0,
or
J/5+1 - if you are 11 years more obsolete and use F-66 (Fortran-4...) convention of numbering arrays from 1

I am not much younger (probably) than your suprevisor, but I switched to do number crunching in C++ over 20 years ago...
 
Seems clear enough. (0+1)/5 = 0, (5+1)/5 = 5 , (10+1)/5 = 2, etc., in standard integer math, which lops off anything after a decimal point. So given j on [0,5,10,...], i on [0,1,2,..] follows the transformation i = (j+1)/5.

C++ in particular is a poor language choice, it's far too easy to make a mistake that won't be caught by a compiler or even crash your program, it will just give you the wrong answer.

xts said:
?
Either :
J/5 - if you number arrays starting from 0,
or
J/5+1 - if you are 11 years more obsolete and use F-66 (Fortran-4...) convention of numbering arrays from 1

I am not much younger (probably) than your suprevisor, but I switched to do number crunching in C++ over 20 years ago...
 
The general format for a DO loop in FORTRAN is the following:

Code:
DO 10 I=1,N,INC
          . . .
          DO SOMETHING
           . . .
   10     CONTINUE

The control variable (I in this case) is assigned an initial value of 1.
N is the limiting value, so the program will break out of the loop after executing for I = N (basically, if I > N).
INC is the increment value. If INC is not given in a program, it defaults to 1. If you give it the value 5, I will increase by INC each time through the loop.

Hope this helps.
 
JeffKoch said:
Seems clear enough. (0+1)/5 = 0, (5+1)/5 = 5 , (10+1)/5 = 2,
(0)/5 = 0, (5)/5 = 5 (should be 1, I guess, mistype..) , (10)/5 = 2,
(0+3)/5 = 0, (5+3)/5 = 1, (10+3)/5 = 2,
(0+4)/5 = 0, (5+4)/5 = 1, (10+4)/5 = 2...
Why have you chosen +1 rather than +3?

C++ in particular is a poor language choice, it's far too easy to make a mistake that won't be caught by a compiler or even crash your program, it will just give you the wrong answer.
I am far from being an advocate of C++, it is awful language, encouraging you to make programming errors, but don't say that Fortran is safer!
We both are not quiche eaters!
(Real Programmers do not use Pascal, 1983: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/real.programmers.html)

ADDED>
Yes, Duncan, DO-loop is my favourite semantics for loop. Anyway, I am not advocating for
Code:
for (i=1; i<=n; i+=inc) {...}
- that is equally awful ;)
 
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xts said:
Why +1 ?

Just good, safe habit - you're guaranteed to add some numbers after the decimal that will be lopped off, so you're always on the same side of the integer that you want.

xts said:
We both are not quiche eaters!

:biggrin: And I even learned Pascal in college, though I've never actually used it except for that one class in like 1984.
 
  • #10
Well, Pascal is even more obsolete than F-77... But in 1984 it was much more elegant than F77... Actually - it is much more elegant than any modern language, but, of course, something a bit more geeky and efficient had to won...

Anyway: answer to OP is
Code:
REAL A(1:N)
DO 10 I=1, 5*N, 5
   do something to A(I/5+1)
10 CONTINUE
ADDED>
I just read the "Real Programmers..." again after 20 years... I forgot Fortran had had a very useful tool: Assigned-Go-To... I really miss that feature in C++ - if I only had it now it would really help me to avoid C++ programming pitfalls!
 
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  • #11
xts said:
I forgot Fortran had had a very useful tool: Assigned-Go-To... I really miss that feature in C++.
C / C++ version of this is switch - case, you can even create a multiple entry point loop inside the switch, using one case for each entry point, called Duff's device:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duff's_device

C / C++ also has pointers to functions, which is similar in concept to assigned goto's, using functions instead of code fragments. C++ extended this concept with overriding of member functions in structures or classes.

Getting back to the OP, if the array starts with 0, then normally it's indexes are described as going from 0 to (n-1), where n is the number of elements in the array. Previous posts already explained how to handle arrays that start at zero or start at one.
 
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