10 Declarations [dcl.dcl]

10.1 Specifiers [dcl.spec]

10.1.3 The typedef specifier [dcl.typedef]

1
#
Declarations containing the decl-specifier typedef declare identifiers that can be used later for naming fundamental ([basic.fundamental]) or compound ([basic.compound]) types.
The typedef specifier shall not be combined in a decl-specifier-seq with any other kind of specifier except a defining-type-specifier, and it shall not be used in the decl-specifier-seq of a parameter-declaration ([dcl.fct]) nor in the decl-specifier-seq of a function-definition ([dcl.fct.def]).
If a typedef specifier appears in a declaration without a declarator, the program is ill-formed.
typedef-name:
	identifier
A name declared with the typedef specifier becomes a typedef-name.
Within the scope of its declaration, a typedef-name is syntactically equivalent to a keyword and names the type associated with the identifier in the way described in Clause [dcl.decl].
A typedef-name is thus a synonym for another type.
A typedef-name does not introduce a new type the way a class declaration ([class.name]) or enum declaration does.
[ Example
:
After
typedef int MILES, *KLICKSP;
the constructions
MILES distance;
extern KLICKSP metricp;
are all correct declarations; the type of distance is int and that of metricp is “pointer to int”.
— end example
 ]
2
#
A typedef-name can also be introduced by an alias-declaration.
The identifier following the using keyword becomes a typedef-name and the optional attribute-specifier-seq following the identifier appertains to that typedef-name.
Such a typedef-name has the same semantics as if it were introduced by the typedef specifier.
In particular, it does not define a new type.
[ Example
: 
using handler_t = void (*)(int);
extern handler_t ignore;
extern void (*ignore)(int);         // redeclare ignore
using cell = pair<void*, cell*>;    // ill-formed
— end example
 ]
The defining-type-specifier-seq of the defining-type-id shall not define a class or enumeration if the alias-declaration is the declaration of a template-declaration.
3
#
In a given non-class scope, a typedef specifier can be used to redefine the name of any type declared in that scope to refer to the type to which it already refers.
[ Example
: 
typedef struct s { /* ... */ } s;
typedef int I;
typedef int I;
typedef I I;
— end example
 ]
4
#
In a given class scope, a typedef specifier can be used to redefine any class-name declared in that scope that is not also a typedef-name to refer to the type to which it already refers.
[ Example
: 
struct S {
  typedef struct A { } A;       // OK
  typedef struct B B;           // OK
  typedef A A;                  // error
};
— end example
 ]
5
#
If a typedef specifier is used to redefine in a given scope an entity that can be referenced using an elaborated-type-specifier, the entity can continue to be referenced by an elaborated-type-specifier or as an enumeration or class name in an enumeration or class definition respectively.
[ Example
: 
struct S;
typedef struct S S;
int main() {
  struct S* p;                  // OK
}
struct S { };                   // OK
— end example
 ]
6
#
In a given scope, a typedef specifier shall not be used to redefine the name of any type declared in that scope to refer to a different type.
[ Example
: 
class complex { /* ... */ };
typedef int complex;            // error: redefinition
— end example
 ]
7
#
Similarly, in a given scope, a class or enumeration shall not be declared with the same name as a typedef-name that is declared in that scope and refers to a type other than the class or enumeration itself.
[ Example
: 
typedef int complex;
class complex { /* ... */ };    // error: redefinition
— end example
 ]
8
#
[ Note
:
A typedef-name that names a class type, or a cv-qualified version thereof, is also a class-name ([class.name]).
If a typedef-name is used to identify the subject of an elaborated-type-specifier ([dcl.type.elab]), a class definition (Clause [class]), a constructor declaration ([class.ctor]), or a destructor declaration ([class.dtor]), the program is ill-formed.
— end note
 ]
[ Example
: 
struct S {
  S();
  ~S();
};

typedef struct S T;

S a = T();                      // OK
struct T * p;                   // error
— end example
 ]
9
#
If the typedef declaration defines an unnamed class (or enum), the first typedef-name declared by the declaration to be that class type (or enum type) is used to denote the class type (or enum type) for linkage purposes only ([basic.link]).
[ Example
: 
typedef struct { } *ps, S;      // S is the class name for linkage purposes
— end example
 ]