typedef Keyword

The `typedef` keyword in C is a powerful tool for creating an alias or a synonym for an existing data type. It doesn't create a new type; instead, it provides a new name for a type, which can significantly improve the readability and maintainability of your code. This is especially useful when working with complex type declarations, such as structures, unions, or pointers to functions. When you define a structure, for example, `struct Point { int x; int y; };`, you have to use the `struct Point` syntax every time you want to declare a variable of that type. This can be verbose. By using `typedef`, you can simplify this. The syntax is `typedef <original_type> <new_name>;`. So, you could write `typedef struct Point Point;`. After this declaration, you can create a `Point` variable simply by writing `Point p1;` instead of `struct Point p1;`. It's also very common to combine the `struct` definition and the `typedef` into a single statement: `typedef struct { int x; int y; } Point;`. Using `typedef` makes the code cleaner and more intuitive, especially for programmers coming from languages where type definitions are less verbose. It's also beneficial for portability. If you need to change an underlying data type used throughout your program (e.g., from `int` to `long`), you only need to change it in one `typedef` statement, and the change will propagate everywhere the alias is used.