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dec_c_help.HLP
Interpretation
The symbols used in declarations are C operators, subject to the
usual rules of precedence and associativity. These operators are
parentheses, brackets, and asterisks for "function returning...",
"array of...", and "pointer to...", respectively. Parentheses and
brackets associate left to right; asterisk operators associate
right to left. Parentheses and brackets have the same precedence,
which is higher than that of asterisks. Parentheses are also used
to change the associativity of the other operators.
The following declaration, for example, is a "function returning a
pointer to an array of pointers to char":
char * ( *x() ) [];
This is how the declaration is broken down to determine what it is:
char * ( *x() ) [];
* ( *x() ) [] is char
( *x() ) [] is (pointer to) char
*x() is (array of) (pointer to) char
x() is (pointer to) (array of) (pointer to)
char
x is (function returning) (pointer to)
(array of) (pointer to) char
In this sort of breakdown, lower precedence operators are removed
first. With two equal precedence operators, remove the rightmost
if they are left-to-right operators, and the leftmost if they are
right-to-left operators. For example, "[]()" means "array of
functions returning...".
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