typedef keyword in c/c++

Every variable has a data type. typedef is used to define new data type names to make a program more readable to the programmer.

For example:
   int money;                
    money = 2;              
And
    typedef int Pounds;
    Pounds money = 2

These examples are EXACTLY the same to the compiler. But the buttom example tells the programmer the type of money he is dealing with.

A common use for typedef is to define a boolean data type as below.
Note: Recent C++ compilers have introduced a boolean datatype.

 typedef enum {FALSE=0, TRUE} Boolean
 main ()
    {
     Boolean flag = TRUE;
 }
       
And as a final example, how about creating a string datatype?

     typedef char *String;
     main()
     {
         String Text = "Thunderbird";
         printf("%s/n", Text);
     }
    
The main use for typedef seems to be defining structures. For example:

 typedef struct {int age; char *name} person;
 person people;
   
Take care to note that person is now a type specifier and NOT a variable name.

As a final note, you can create several data types in one hit.

 typedef int Pounds, Shillings, Pennies, Dollars, Cents;