Fortran arrays allow data to be grouped, but only if all items have the same data type. It is often useful to use a structure, which is a compound object consisting of values that may be of different data types. Derived types are used to define the form of structures. It is possible to define new operations on defined types, creating abstract data types. Derived types and their operations are defined in a module, making them globally available to many programs.
An interesting kind of structure is a recursive data structure, which can be built and manipulated using pointers. Examples of these structures are found in the form of linked lists (10.3), trees (10.4), and queues (12.4).
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© 2009 Walter S. Brainerd
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Brainerd, W.S. (2009). Structures and Derived Types. In: Guide to Fortran 2003 Programming. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-543-7_6
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