Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho
No, it introduces a variable of type "array of 50 ints", which can be converted to "pointer to int".
ISO 9899:1999 (C99) section 6.7.5.2:3 says that its type is "array of int", not "array of 50 ints":
Ok, so in C terminology "type" is different from most statically typed languages in this respect. The dimension is used together with the type to determine static properties, and 6.7.5.2:4 says: [#4] For two array types to be compatible, both shall have compatible element types, and if both size specifiers are present, and are integer constant expressions, then both size specifiers shall have the same constant value. If the two array types are used in a context which requires them to be compatible, it is undefined behavior if the two size specifiers evaluate to unequal values. In C++ the size is considered a part of the type: 8.3.4 Arrays [dcl.array] 1 In a declaration T D where D has the form D1 [constant-expressionopt] and the type of the identifier in the declaration T D1 is "derived- declarator-type-list T," then the type of the identifier of D is an array type. T is called the array element type; this type shall not be a reference type, the type void, a function type or an abstract class type. If the constant-expression (_expr.const_) is present, it shall be an integral constant expression and its value shall be greater than zero. The constant expression specifies the bound of (number of elements in) the array. If the value of the constant expression is N, the array has N elements numbered 0 to N-1, and the type of the identifier of D is "derived-declarator-type-list array of N T." In both languages lvalueness is also not considered a part of the type but an alternative language presentation could use a wording where it is. -- __("< Marcin Kowalczyk \__/ qrczak@knm.org.pl ^^ http://qrnik.knm.org.pl/~qrczak/