Abstract
Coarrays have been added to Fortran to provide a convenient and clear way of expressing parallel programming. By using a second set of subscripts in square brackets, addressing different processors is as natural as addressing the elements of an array. Coarray Fortran (CAF) is very easy to master and gives the programmer as well as the compiler a transparent view of the communications involved. Optimal performance, up to PetaScale, has been achieved using CAF. CAF is part of the Fortran 2008 language standard and has been implemented in several compilers including those from Cray, Intel and GNU.
In this set of lectures, renowned world-expert Prof. John Reid, one of the original proposers of CAF, introduces Coarrays to the viewer. Prof. Reid is convener of the ISO Fortran Committee and played a leading role in adding CAF to the Fortran 2008 language standard. In the first two lectures, he introduces CAF as it stands in the current standard. In a third lecture, he explains additional features that were under development at the time of the lectures (2014).