[kazinator]

Because the syntax is:

  <specifiers> <declarator> {, <declarator>, ...} ;

The star is a type-deriving operator that is part of the <declarator>, not part of the <specifiers>!

This declares two pointers to char:

  char *foo, *bar;

This declares foo as a pointer to char, and bar as a char:

  char* foo, bar;

We have created a trompe l'oeil by separating the * from the declarator to which it begins and attaching it to the specifier to which it doesn't.

[mikepurvis]

On the other hand, for those of us who agree with the GP on this, one way around the pitfall is to have your project's style guide ban multiple declarations on a single line, or at least ban them for non-trivial variables— so `int x, y, z;` is permitted, but nothing more than that.

[kazinator]

That's fine if it isn't used as a pretext for writing nonsense like char* p; which should likewise be banned in the same coding style document.

[mikewarot]

>This declares foo as a pointer to char, and bar as a char:

  char* foo, bar;

So that's why I've had so many problems understanding C. I come from the Pascal world, where a type specification is straightforward.