Question

What does READ() do in Fortran?

For example:

READ(1,82)

Answer 1

1 is the file handle, which you have to open with the proper open call.
82 is a label that references a format, meaning how you will report the data in terms of visual formatting.

        program foo
        implicit none
        integer :: i
        double precision :: a

        write (*,*) 'give me an integer and a float'
        read (*,82) i,a
        write (*,82) i,a
82      format (I4, F8.3)
        end program

In this example, the program accepts from the standard input (whose unit number is not specified, and so I put a *) an integer and a floating point value. the format says that the integer occupies the first four columns, then I have a float which stays in 8 columns, with 3 digits after the decimal point

If I run the program now, and I don’t follow exactly this format, the program will complain and crash, because the first 4 columns are expected to represent an integer (due to the I4 format), and “5 3.” is not a valid integer

$ ./a.out 
 give me an integer and a float
5 3.5
At line 7 of file test.f (Unit 5)
Traceback: not available, compile with -ftrace=frame or -ftrace=full
Fortran runtime error: Bad value during integer read

However, a correct specification (please note the three spaces before the number 5) will perform the correct operation (with a little tolerance, it’s not that strict)

$ ./a.out 
 give me an integer and a float
   5 3.5
   5   3.500
$