I’m confused by this comment. Doesn’t a data statement imply save?
As I searched google for the answer to that question I found one of your posts saying that it does.
[Edit: The Fortran 2003 draft includes this language:]
If true, why would this be an “unlikely” suggestion if it’s semantically equivalent?
I would certainly not assume most data initialized variables should be treated as parameters. Some might have been used that way, but parameter has been part of the language for a long time and many developers would have used it where it was needed.