Fortran... ok, and what's next?

TL;DR

This paper surveys the historical evolution of FORTRAN from its origins to the modern ecosystem, highlighting the shift from the first optimizing compiler to language standards that integrate object-oriented and parallel constructs. It discusses parallel computing's evolution, including coarrays and external standards, and the rise of the Fortran-lang community with its stdlib and fpm tooling. It outlines near-term Fortran 2023 and the planned Fortran 202Y, emphasizing backward compatibility and ongoing ecosystem modernization, including open-source tooling like LFortran and Flang. It also underscores Fortran's sustained relevance in numerical science and HPC, supported by a growing community and open collaboration, as reflected by milestones such as the Turing Award and active development of language interoperability and performance-focused compilers.

Abstract

Modern Fortran is a standardized language that includes object-oriented and parallel programming paradigms. The Fortran-lang community, created at the end of 2019, is actively working to modernize its ecosystem. New compilers are under development. And the fourth Fortran standard of the 21st century is due to be published in autumn 2023.