Array declaration in FORTRAN for beginners

Question

This is a beginners question but I haven\'t found a comprehensive answer.

What are the differences (if any) of the following declarations?

CHARACTER(         


        

Answer 1

Three of those declare a character variable that holds a string of 5 characters. Two of them declare an array of 5 characters, each capable of holding a single character.

The two that declare arrays of 5 elements will work the same way to declare an array of 5 reals. The three that declare characters of length 5 have no analog in other variable types. The specific syntax of a subset of those three will compile, however, but will be used to select different kinds of reals, rather than denoting a character length.