Install gfortran

Install on Linux

On most Linux distributions gfortran is one package install away from the standard repositories.

Update the package index first, then install the compiler package.

sudo apt update

sudo apt install gfortran

Other distributions use other package managers, but the package name stays gfortran or gcc-fortran in almost every case.

gfortran --version

After the install, confirm that the compiler answers from the command line.

gfortran --version

GNU Fortran 13.2.0

Any recent version is fine for this course. Version 9 and newer support everything used in the first lessons.

First flags

Three flags cover most beginner needs: warnings, the language standard, and optimization.

Start every compile line with -Wall -Wextra -std=f2018 so the compiler warns about suspicious code and checks the modern standard.

gfortran -Wall -Wextra -std=f2018 hello.f90 -o hello

Add -O2 when the program grows and speed matters. Leave it out while learning if error messages feel too long.

Compile and run

Save the hello program from the previous lesson as hello.f90, compile it to a binary named hello, then run the binary.

gfortran hello.f90 -o hello

./hello

Hello, Fortran

If the file name and the program name differ, nothing bad happens. The -o name only sets the name of the created binary.

Next: Your first program

Article author: Arthur Isaev