Basic of Fortran Language

Fortran Variables

A quantity which may vary during program execution is called a variable. Variables names are name tags of memory location where numbers are stored. A number stored in a memory location with an integer variable name is an integer and one stored in a location with a real variable name may have a fractional part. A variable must have a name. One variable name may consists maximum of up to six characters. First character of a variable must be an alphabet. Special characters like &, #, $, etc are not allowed in variable name. Blank spaces in a name are ignored.

Example:

THETA MATRIX HEIGHT

From this example it should be clear that the value of THETA, MATRIX and HEIGHT may vary according to the program.

Following Points should keep in mind while declaring Variable:

· A variable must have a name.

· One variable name may consists maximum of up to six characters.

· First character of a variable must be a letter.

· Special characters like &, #, $, etc are not allowed in variable name.

· Blank spaces not allowed in variable name.

Variables can be easily understand by this table:

Wrong Right Description 2THETA THETA First character should be an alphabet &MATRIX MATRIX Special characters & are not allowed INT R INTR Blank spaces in a name are ignored