Page 136 - C-Language

char *names[20];

[] takes precedence over *, so the interpretation is: names is an array of size 20 of a pointer to char.

char (*place)[10];

In case of using parentheses to override the precedence, the * is applied first: place is a pointer to
an array of size 10 of char.

int fn(long, short);

There is no precedence to worry about here: fn is a function taking long, short and returning int.

int *fn(void);

The () is applied first: fn is a function taking void and returning a pointer to int.

int (*fp)(void);

Overriding the precedence of (): fp is a pointer to a function taking void and returning int.

int arr[5][8];

Multidimensional arrays are not an exception to the rule; the [] operators are applied in left-to-right
order according to the associativity in the table: arr is an array of size 5 of an array of size 8 of int.

int **ptr;

The two dereference operators have equal precedence, so the associativity takes effect. The
operators are applied in right-to-left order: ptr is a pointer to a pointer to an int.

Multiple Declarations

The comma can be used as a separator (*not* acting like the comma operator) in order to delimit
multiple declarations within a single statement. The following statement contains five declarations:

int fn(void), *ptr, (*fp)(int), arr[10][20], num;

The declared objects in the above example are:

• fn: a function taking void and returning int;
• ptr: a pointer to an int;
• fp: a pointer to a function taking int and returning int;
• arr: an array of size 10 of an array of size 20 of int;
• num: int.

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