F90 Model : Introduction

Fortran 90 is not object-oriented, it does not have:

Inheritance (is-a relationships)
Polymorphism
``Class'' methods

Fortran 90 does have object-like characteristics:

User-derived (or user defined) types (has-a relationships)
Overloaded operator/assignment/procedure interfaces
Data encapsulation

This places Fortran 90 somewhere in between `C' and C++. Unfortunately, because of the lengthy standards process and the inavailability of conforming compilers, Fortran 90 use has been minimal, but appears to be increasing.

Opinion: Fortran 90 should have been a new language, without any Fortran 77 encumbrances. This would have allowed for more rational optimizing compilers sooner.

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