Typedef declaration

 

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The typedef declaration provides a way to create an alias that can be used anywhere in place of a (possibly complex) type name.

Syntax

typedef type_declaration;

Explanation

The declaration that follows the keyword typedef is otherwise a normal type declaration (except that other type specifiers, e.g. static, cannot be used). It may declare one or many indentifiers on the same line (e.g. int and a pointer to int), it may declare array and function types, pointers and references, class types, etc. Every identifier introduced in this declaration becomes a typedef-name rather than an object that it would become if the keyword typedef was removed.

The typedef-names are aliases for existing types, and are not declarations of new types. Typedef cannot be used to change the meaning of an existing type name (including a typedef-name). Once declared, a typedef-name may only be redeclared to refer to the same type again. Typedef names are only in effect in the scope where they are visible: different functions or class declarations may define identically-named types with different meaning.

Keywords

typedef

Example

// simple typedef
typedef unsigned long ulong;
 
// the following two objects have the same type
unsigned long l1;
ulong l2;
 
// more complicated typedef
typedef int int_t, *intp_t, (&fp)(int, ulong), arr_t[10];
 
// the following two objects have the same type
int a1[10];
arr_t a2;
 
// common C idiom to avoid having to write "struct S"
typedef struct {int a; int b;} S;
 
// the following two objects have the same type
struct {int a; int b;} s1;
S s2;
 
// error: conflicting type specifier
// typedef static unsigned int uint;
 
// std::add_const, like many other metafunctions, use member typedefs
template< class T>
struct add_const {
    typedef const T type;
};

See also

type aliases provide the same functionality as typedefs using a different syntax, and are also applicable to template names.