[eichin]

Because it isn't - `float* foo, bar;` foo is a pointer, bar is not.

(There were suggestions back in the 90s that to make C easier to parse for humans (and not-coincidentally simplify the compiler grammar) this should be `foo, bar: float*;` and your model of pointerness could actually be true. Never got much more traction than some "huh, that would be better, too bad we've been using this for 10 years already and will never change it" comments :-) (with an occasional side of "maybe use typedefs instead")

[mananaysiempre]

Good news (kinda): C23 allows (and GCC has for a long long time allowed) you to write typeof(float *) foo, bar; and declare two pointers. Not that I’d advocate writing normal declarations that way, but at least now you can write macros (e.g. for allocation) that don’t choke on arbitrary type names.

[Espressosaurus]

Which is why the convention is usually to not permit multiple declarations in one line.

If you value your codebase anyway.

[mikewarot]

Declaring X,Y and Z on separate lines for a graphics routine would just be silly, they're all the same type.

Defensive programming that extreme reminds me of the behavior I learned to avoid pissing off my drunk dad.

[Espressosaurus]

It's either that, or making a pointer type to bind things correctly. Convention is there to paper over shitty, shitty behavior in the language that is easy to trip yourself up on.