Typedef struct vs just struct

Posted on 16th Feb 2014 07:03 pm by admin

Anyone know the rationale for using typedef for structs when a struct is itself a typedef? I have seen this in just about every book I have ever read, never with any explanation, yet I know from extensive personal experience that the end result is exactly the same (at least on all compilers from the last 10 years). Is it nothing more than an effort to save typing 'struct' on the variable declarations (and that not even needed in C++)? For instance, this all seems to be the same:

Code: typedef struct { int i; } bob; struct nob { int i; }; bob b; struct nob n;

I have heard people adamantly argue that everything should be typdef-ed as a way to make maintenance easier, but in my experience when you change a data type you still need to examine every single place it is used in the entire code base to make sure you aren't creating bugs with the type change, so I don't see the maintenance benefit. I find it a lot more useful to know what an object type is without needing to constantly look up what the heck the typedef really is (of course, for structs that doesn't help). Good IDEs will make that process less painful, but I have found my ability to maintain code is actually decreased with the extensive use of typedefs.

So, any arguments for the use of typedefs?

Your Answer:

Login to answer

Other forums

download directory onto C drive
I am attempting (if this is possible) to write a routine to automatically dump the contents of a dir

Storing Values taken from a DB...
Using this code it will generate a short list from my database

<?php
mysql_connect

How to use Substr
I want to check for the word CATEGORY: inside a string which can be CATEGORY: ITEM
and remove the

Remove directories not empty
hi,
i have an array that contains some names (1,4,6,56...). Every integer is a name of a folder.<

pagination numbering pattern
Hello,

I have following code which works great for pagination. but i have small issue now.

type check while uploading
Hi Everyone,

How can I check the exact type of a file while uploading on my site?

Here

$get problem
Hi Guys ...

can you please tell me what i am doing wrong here
Code: <?php

Why do I get this error
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting ',' or ';' in /home/a5488351/public_html/b

Multidimensional array problems in $_POST
I'm having trouble with a three-dimensional $_POST array. It starts as a two-dimensional array on th

Compare user input to flat file data
Help...Am a complete newbie to programming so my code is prolly quite long. Am trying to verify a us