Declaring array of voids
c, memory
Solution
I don't understand why declaring an array of void is an error.
The technical reason you cannot declare an array-of-`void` is that `void` is an incomplete type that cannot be completed. The size of array elements must be known but the void type has no size. Note that you are similarly unable to declare a void object, as in
void foo;
Note that a pointer-to-void has a specific size, which is why
void *foo;
is valid, as well as `sizeof(foo)`, but `sizeof(*foo)` would be invalid.
How can I declare a block of memory without a specific type?
For generic memory buffers, use an array of plain `char` or `unsigned char` (or even `uint8_t`). I usually prefer plain `char` when I need to pass pointers to the `str*` family of functions where array of `unsigned char` would lead to diagnostics about incompatible pointers.
Problem
I'm writing a program that copies files. I've used a buffer in order to store the information that the `read()` function provides and then give this data to the `write()` function. I've used this declaration: ``` static void buffer[BUFFER_SIZE]; ``` The problem is that I get the the error `error: declaration of ‘buffer’ as array of voids`. I don't understand why declaring an array of void is an error. How can I declare a block of memory without a specific type?