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Where does the * go?

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This is a more amusing than functional debate I enter into from time to time.  On a line where you declare a pointer type in C++, where should the * go? 

  1. Next to the type (i.e. Type* p1;)
  2. Next to the variable name  (i.e. Type *p1;)
  3. Who cares

For the moment lets ignore #3 (after all they don't care).  I'm a firm believer in #1.  After all * is a part of the type of the variable, not the name and therefore should be closer to the type. 

#2 believers disagree with this notion.  They believe the * is a part of the individual variable's type and not the actual type.  This is technically correct and can be demonstrated with the following code

   Type* p1, p2;

The type of p2 is of course Type and not Type*. Therefore they argue, #2 is the superior way

This is true but I'm also a firm believer in don't declare multiple variables in a single declaration statement while coding in C++ unless the type has a user defined constructor.  Namely to avoid situations just like this.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2008
    PingBack from http://www.easycoded.com/where-does-the-go/

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2008
    This inherent ambiguity in C++ is a great example of why more modern, or, rarely, older (FORTH, for instance) languages are usually a better choice for new software projects.

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 04, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 05, 2008
    The comment has been removed