This is identified in K&R C on Page 1 about pointers, though its subtle. I'm paraphrasing, but I believe the explanation is that `int a* = 5;` is a mnemonic, i

This is identified in K&R C on Page 1 about pointers, though its subtle. I'm paraphrasing, but I believe the explanation is that `int a* = 5;` is a mnemonic, i.e. that dereferencing the pointer a will evaluate to 5. Must have read that section five or six times over the years but only a few months ago did it sink in.