Which Fortran Training Course Fits You: Introduction, Advanced, or Conversion?

Fortranplus offers three main Fortran training courses, and the right one depends on your starting point: Introduction to Programming with Modern Fortran if you have little or no programming experience, Advanced Modern Fortran if you already program in another language or have completed the introductory course, and Conversion to modern Fortran if you maintain legacy Fortran 66 or 77 code. All three can be tailored to a client's needs, so the descriptions below are a starting filter rather than a final decision.

Quick comparison

Introduction to Programming with Modern Fortran

Choose this course if you are new to programming altogether. Fortranplus describes it as suitable for complete beginners with little or no programming experience, which means it does not assume you already know loops, arrays, or subroutines from another language. The course teaches programming through modern Fortran rather than treating Fortran as a second language.

If you have never written code before, this is the entry point — the other two courses assume prior knowledge that you would not yet have.

Advanced Modern Fortran

This course serves two audiences at once:

• People who completed the introductory course and want to go further.
• Experienced programmers in another language (C++, Python, and similar) who want to convert to modern Fortran.

If you already think in terms of functions, data structures, and program flow, you do not need the beginner material — you need the Fortran-specific idioms and features. That is what this course targets. The Fortranplus site also lists object oriented programming in Fortran and parallel programming with Fortran among its topic keywords, which indicates the advanced end of modern Fortran is in scope.

Conversion to modern Fortran

Pick this course if your situation is a codebase rather than a skill gap. Fortranplus specifically offers it "for people with legacy Fortran 66 and 77 code." The goal is moving that code toward modern Fortran, not learning programming from scratch.

This is the right fit when you can already read and write Fortran but your code reflects decades-old standards and you want to bring it forward.

How to decide

Work through these questions in order:

1. Do you have legacy Fortran 66/77 code to modernise? If yes, the Conversion course addresses your actual problem.
2. Can you already program in another language? If yes, go to Advanced Modern Fortran — it explicitly targets converts from C++, Python, and similar languages.
3. Are you a complete beginner? If yes, start with Introduction to Programming with Modern Fortran.
4. Did you finish the introductory course? Then Advanced Modern Fortran is the follow-on.

Tailoring and next step

Fortranplus states that both main courses can be tailored to suit clients' needs, so if your situation sits between categories — for example, a mixed team of beginners and experienced developers — the course content can be adjusted rather than forcing everyone into one fixed track.

To confirm the best fit, contact Fortranplus directly. The site also maintains a Fortran resource file (updated 21 December 2025) covering compilers, books, courses, and discussion forums, which is useful background before you commit to a course.