To: J3                                                     J3/23-161
From: Bill Long
Subject:  Consecutive numeric operators
Date: 2023-June-08

Discussion:
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This proposal amounts to a new F202Y feature proposal for
consideration by the DATA subgroup.

The expression form

  X oper1 oper2 Y

appears in user codes where X and Y are numeric data objects and
oper1 is a numeric binary operator and oper2 is a numeric unary
operator.  The interpetation is the same as X oper1 (oper2 Y). Users
presume this is standard-conforming based on it being allowed by both
Intel and gfortran.

Example:

  a*-b Evaluated as a*(-b)

Operation oper2 is limited to + or -.

Allowing this one use of two consecutive operators would reduce the
number of standard-conformance messages seen by users, reducing
clutter in listing files.