FTA: First, symbols. Read * as "pointer to" - always on the left side [] as "array of" - always on the right side () as "function ret

FTA: First, symbols. Read * as "pointer to" - always on the left side [] as "array of" - always on the right side () as "function returning" - always on the right side If all of these type operators were on the right side, there would be no need for such a guide. Parenthesis would never be necessary for type declarations, and they could be read in one direction. It's unclear why C authors chose to have both prefix and postfix type operators. Similarly, the value-level dereference operator could be post-fix, avoiding the need for (->), and making it much easier to dereference and subscript array pointers. That would make it feasible to pass arrays by pointer-to-array, allowing to feasibly pass them by value and have simpler and more consistent language semantics.