 <p>Within the standard language, the approach was typically to set aside storage in an array that was larger than likely needed, but still within the constraints of the platform running the program, then manually parcel that storage out as required. The language had features, such as sequence association, storage association, and adjustable arrays, that helped with this parcelling.</p> <p>Use of language extensions for dynamic memory management was also common.</p> <p>The capabilities of Fortran 77 and earlier need to be considered in the context of the capabilities of the platforms of the time.</p>