Well, the form “real*8” is a common extension to the language that has superseded by the kind specification. That is much more flexible and well-defined. For instance: switching from single to double precision can be achieved with:
real(kind=wp) :: a ! Set wp to the right kind number via: integer, parameter :: wp = kind(1.0d0) or the like
Combining variables like a(:) and b(:,:) in one statement or separating them is merely syntax.
– I fixed the formatting so that smileys do not show instead of code. Ondrej