Re: overloaded cant be distinguished by return values?

Berthold Höllmann wrote:
....
module a

interface test
module procedure testa, testb
end interface test

contains

function testa() result(a)
integer :: a
a = 1
end function testa

function testb() result(b)
character(len=8) :: b
b = 'result'
end function testb
end module a

Suppose the above were allowed and you wrote the following
call:

Write(*,*) test()

Which of the instances of test should be called here?

There are some languages (like Ada, for example) where the
overloading of a generic can be determined by the result type
because there are no contexts in the language where a reference
may be written such that the required type isn't known from that
context. There's even a formal name for type mechanisms
designed that way (which I always disremember).

Fortran doesn't have that property. The type of anything in
Fortran is determined by its own appearance (like a literal),
its own declaration (like most variables and non-generic
functions), or based on the types of its operands (like operator
results or generic function references).

--
J. Giles

"I conclude that there are two ways of constructing a software
design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously
no deficiencies and the other way is to make it so complicated
that there are no obvious deficiencies." -- C. A. R. Hoare


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