Ch01 Discussion

Discussion Guide

Warm-up (think–pair–share, 5 min). "What did you believe about Fortran before today, and where did that belief come from?" Surfaces the caricature and its sources (school, folklore, never having seen it).

Main discussion (15–20 min). 1. The honest claim. Put "Fortran runs the supercomputers" on the board. Ask the class to rewrite it so it is both true and still impressive. Use this to teach precision of claim. 2. Rewrite or refactor. Pose the Case Study 2 scenario (validated 15,000-line FORTRAN 77 safety code, one expert retiring). Poll rewrite vs. modernize, then have each side argue. Reveal how the validated numerics asset drives the answer. 3. Where's the boundary? "Name a task for which Fortran is clearly the WRONG choice." Ensures students learn Fortran is a specialist tool, not a universal one — which makes the pro-Fortran case credible.

Group activity (10 min). In pairs, each student writes their one-sentence answer to "why learn Fortran in 2026?" and a one-sentence honest limitation. Collect a few. Tell them to keep it for Chapter 40, where they will compare.

Exit ticket. "State the two design decisions behind Fortran's speed, in your own words." (Checks the §1.3 core; anything vague about 'arrays' and 'no overlap' is a pass.)