FORTRAN-90 - AN ENTRY TO OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING FOR THE SOLUTIONOF PARTIAL-DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

The aim of this work is to set up a programming model suitable for num erical computing while taking benefit of Fortran 90's features. The us e of concepts from object-oriented programming avoids the weaknesses o f the traditional global data programming model of Fortran 77. This wo rk supports the view that object-oriented concepts are not in contradi ction with good Fortran 77 programming practices but complement them. These concepts can be embodied in a module-based programming style and result in an efficient and easy-to-maintain code (maintainability mea ns code clarity, scope for further enhancements, and ease of debugging ). After introducing the terminology associated with object-oriented p rogramming, it is shown how these concepts are implemented in the fram ework of Fortran 90. Then, we present an object-oriented implementatio n of a spectral element solver for a Poisson equation.