Book excerpt: The Fortran 2003 Handbook is a definitive and comprehensive guide to Fortran 2003 and its use. Fortran 2003, the latest standard version of Fortran, has many excellent features that assist the programmer in writing efficient, portable and maintainable programs. This all-inclusive volume offers a reader-friendly, easy-to-follow and informal description of Fortran 2003, and has been developed to provide not only a readable explanation of features, but also some rationale for the inclusion of features and their use. This highly versatile handbook is intended for anyone who wants a comprehensive survey of Fortran 2003.