PROGRAMMING WITH FORTRAN 77 copyright 1995

[LSE1234]

I have the book "Schaum's Outline Series Theory & Problems PROGRAMMING WITH FORTRAN 77 copyright 1995", well from the time of this book till today(2008-9) changed a lot in FORTRAN 77 ? If yes, what points mainly ?
Well start reading this book , or buy another newer book in the subject ?
This book can be used with software Force 2.0(version 2.0.8) ? With a Visual FORTRAN edition ?

FORTRAN(and FORTRAN 77) can be used with databases (not data files) ? Visual FORTRAN edition can be used ?
For FORTRAN 77 applications, GUIs can be built easily ?
Visual FORTRAN offers easily implement GUIs ?
Where I may find in a CDROM or DOWNLOAD FORTRAN Programs used by NASA Scientists ?

VC# 2008 may studied concurrently with VB 2008 ? Or better VB 2008 alone first ? These languages used today in applications used by FORTRAN ?
What differs VB 2008 from VB.NET 2008 ? Also exist any difference between VB.NET 2008 and ASP.NET 2008 ?

 

[jacksonpeeble]

Yes, Fortran has changed considerably since Fortran 77. They've had four new versions, and are currently at Fortran 2008. If I were you, I would certainly invest in a new guide so that you aren't behind when your knowledge is required in a modern environment.

A general overview of the differences can be found in the Fortran article in Wikipedia.

As for studying two languages concurrently - you may get confused from time to time when you attempt to use syntax specific to one programming language that doesn't work in the other; however, I've found that it's easier to learn new languages now that I know several already. Therefore, you can do whatever you like. There are benefits to either course of action.

 

[LSE1234]

FORTRAN 2008 (and FORTRAN 77) can be used with databases (not with data files) ?
This book can be used with software Force 2.0(version 2.0.8) ?

You suggest get a book in Visual Fortran ? Fortran 2008 is visual ?

 

[vanesch]

I'm also an old user of FORTRAN77 and I didn't follow fortran anymore after that, so I'm also surprised to learn that there have been 4 versions (I knew about 90...).

It depends what your aim is. If the goal is to just learn to program, I'd say, start with C. Its syntax is much closer to many modern languages, it is relatively close to what you could do with fortran77 etc... There's no point in learning the archaic typographical rules of FORTRAN77. I'd say, the only reason for you to learn FORTRAN77 is if you have to dig into old code.
I have to say I can also not think of a good reason to learn any new version of fortran... although maybe there are reasons. FORTRAN used to be the "scientific number crunching language" in the past: it was known by most scientists, it was rather simple, there were fast compilers for it and there's a whole battery of scientific legacy code in FORTRAN. But I'd say that by now, C has taken over that role.

You may of course have specific reasons to learn FORTRAN77 or a modern version of it. But if it is just because you found an old book on it, I don't know if that's worth the learning effort.

 

[Ouabache]

I learned FORTRAN when it was called FORTRAN-IV (prior to 1977) , then in the 90s we used FORTRAN77 in my engineering-numerical analysis course. To my joy, it was pretty much the same as I had learned 20 yrs earlier.. I agree with JacksonPeeble, you may want to review the new features they have added to subsequent versions. (i read on wiki, vers.2003 even includes object oriented programming)

If you're looking for FORTRAN code used by NASA, just do a net search. The have FORTRAN binaries available for their weather data analyses.