In C, is it good form to use typedef for a pointer?

Question

Consider the following C code:

typedef char * MYCHAR;
MYCHAR x;

My understanding is that the result would be that x is a pointer of type \"

Answer 1

I prefer leaving the *, it shows there's a pointer. And your second example should be shortened as char* x;, it makes no sense.

Answer 2

If you look at several existing APIs, it looks as if not putting the pointerness into the type seems better style:

• the already mentionned FILE *
• the MYSQL * returned by MySQL's mysql_real_connect()
• the MYSQL * returned by MySQL's mysql_store_result() and mysql_use_result()

and probably many others.