Parameterised Data Types

• FORTRAN 77 had a problem with numeric portability, the precision (and exponent range) between processors could differ,
• Fortran 90 implements a portable precision selecting mechanism,
• intrinsic types can be parameterised by a kind value (an integer). For example,

      INTEGER(KIND=1) :: ik1
      REAL(4) :: rk4

• the kind parameters correspond to differing precisions supported by the compiler (details in the compiler manual).
• objects of different kinds can be mixed in arithmetic expressions but procedure arguments must match in type and kind.

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