Simply Fortran is a new, complete Fortran solution for Microsoft Windows and compatible operating systems. Designed from the beginning for interoperability with GNU Fortran, Simply Fortran delivers a reliable Fortran compiler on Windows platforms with all the necessary productivity tools that professionals expect. The Simply Fortran package includes a configured GNU Fortran compiler installation, an integrated development environment, a graphical debugger, and a collection of other development necessities.
Approximatrix Simply Fortran is an inexpensive way for anyone to productively develop using the Fortran language.
Simply Fortran has been designed from the start with GFortran integration as the primary goal. The Simply Fortran development environment has been tested using the powerful, open-source Fortran compiler and its related GNU tools. The widely used open-source compiler and toolset have been packaged for Microsoft Windows and compatible operating systems, and the Simply Fortran IDE provides a comfortable tool for Windows developers, mathematicians, and scientists.
Insight Debugger
Simply Fortran ships and integrates with the Insight Debugger, a graphical front end to the GNU Debugger, GDB. Insight provides a graphical user interface for debugging Fortran programs and projects, and it is available immediately from the Simply Fortran menus or toolbar. Features within Insight are extensive, including a range of breakpoints, stack tracing, thread monitoring, and watch expressions. Code compiled with GFortran using the debug flag is understood by Insight, and Fortran types can be inspected seamlessly within the debugger. The Insight Debugger is a powerful tool for professional Fortran developers.
Advanced Editing
The Simply Fortran environment integrates the Scintilla editing component, which provides advanced features for editing Fortran source code. Simply Fortran's implementation includes the following features:
* Syntax Higlighting - for easily identifying keywords, comments, etc. in multiple languages
* Folding - to expand and contract loops, conditionals, subroutines, functions, and modules
* Automated Commenting - to rapidly comment or uncomment blocks of code
* Text Search and Replace - for searching a single file, incorporating regular expressions for power users
* Tabbed Layout - to allow easy switching between source files
The editor is incorporated directly within the development environment alongside the project management pane. Other editing features professional developers expect are also present, including cut/copy/paste functionality, jumping to line numbers, right margin guides, and configurable indentation.
Project Management
Projects in Simply Fortran are easy to configure and manage using the project management pane. Simply Fortran supports arbitrary project organization, separating the project view from the file system layout. Fortran code pertaining to similar project components can be organized into folders and subfolders together regardless of their location on the file system. The logical organization can improve productivity for users without complicating file system arrangement.
Fortran files inserted into the project are available for Fortran module searching. Simply Fortran scans all Fortran 90 source code and indexes the modules present in each individual file. This index can then be searched for any known modules within the project.
Furthermore, Simply Fortran handles complicated Fortran dependencies. Indexes of module interdependencies are maintained by the IDE, and the generated makefile used for building a project automatically is properly configured to ensure all modules are built in the proper order.
While the integrated development environment has been developed specifically with Fortran in mind, libraries and C source code can also be integrated into projects. Unlike more complex development environments, adding a library, an object, or a C source file into a Simply Fortran project is as simple as including the file in the project tree. Additional flags are entirely unnecessary.