A type name is syntactically a declaration
of an object or a function of a given type that omits the identifier.
Type names are often used in cast expressions and as operands of
the sizeof operator.
Syntax |
 |
type-name ::=
specifier-qualifier-list [abstract-declarator]
abstract-declarator ::=
pointer
[pointer] direct-abstract-declarator
direct-abstract-declarator
( abstract-declarator )
[direct-abstract-declarator] [ [constant-expression] ]
[direct-abstract-declarator] ( [parameter-type-list] )
Description |
 |
Type names are enclosed in parentheses to indicate a cast
operation. The destination type is the type named in the cast; the
operand is then converted to that type.
A type name is a declaration without the identifier specified.
For example, the declaration for an integer is int i. If the identifier is omitted, only the integer
type int remains.
Examples |
 |
int int
int * Pointer to int
int () Function returning an int
int *() Function returning a pointer to int
int (*)() Pointer to function returning an int
int [3]; Array of 3 int
int *[3]; Array of 3 pointers to int
int (*)[3]; Pointer to an array of 3 int
The parentheses are necessary to alter the binding order in
the cases of pointer to function and pointer to array. This is because
function and array declarators have higher precedence than the pointer
declarator.