What does - int *p() - mean in c?

Question

What does this definition mean in C language? A pointer to what?

int  *a();

Answer 1

int  *a();

is the declaration of a function that takes an unspecified (but fixed) number of arguments and returns an int * .

It is different than:

int *a(void);

which is the declaration of a function that takes no argument and returns an int * .

The former declaration is an obsolescent feature, use the second form to declare a function with no parameter.

Answer 2

you can use the cdecl command by typing

explain int  *a()

and you will get

cdecl> explain int  *a()
declare a as function returning pointer to int