REAL and INTEGER variables

Character data can be stored in real and integer variables and arrays. Indeed, until FORTRAN 77, this was the only way of storing character variables. So statements like :-

ANS='YES'

IF(ANS.EQ.'NO')GOTO 250

are valid. However character handling using reals and integers is rather clumsy. For example if I and A both contain the string 'XYZ', the expression I.EQ.A will be false because FORTRAN, not knowing better, assumes I is an integer and converts it to a real before testing! Also the number of characters that can be held in one variable is machine dependent: although most modern machines are based of 32 bits for variables so can hold 4 characters in a normal length real. It was because of this rather unsatisfactory state of affairs that a new type of data - CHARACTER was defined in FORTRAN 77.