LAPACK's user's guide
Conversion to Fortran 90: a case study
ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS)
Algorithm 734: A Fortran 90 code for unconstrained nonlinear minimization
ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS)
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Currently Fortran 77 is the most widely used language for libraries of numerical procedures, although it has many disadvantages for this purpose. Fortran 90 offers significant benefits for both developers and users of numerical libraries, especially: explicit interfaces, dynamic allocation of workspace, assumed-shape arrays, optional arguments, generic interfaces, parameterisation of precision, and derived types. All these features help to simplify the user-interface to procedures. Fortran 90 libraries can be constructed as a hierarchy of modules, with controlled access to entities, which may include type definitions and named constants as well as procedures. The interfaces to procedures may also be defined in terms of operators. Numerical libraries in Fortran 90 are already available from two commercial vendors, NAG and VNI, and numerical software in Fortran 90 has begun to appear in the public domain.