What is the difference between declaring int* a and int *a in C?

Question

C++ / C#

The syntax is already so confusing, why such differences in the declaration, if the result is the same?

/* main.c */
#include "stdio.h"

int a = 10;
int b = 20;

int *a_ptr = &a;
int* b_ptr = &b;

int main (void)
{
    printf("%d\n", *a_ptr);  //10
    printf("%d\n", *b_ptr);  //20
    return 0;
}

Answer 1

Nothing different. Whitespace characters can be placed anywhere where they do not break a keyword, identifier, or constant. All options below are completely equivalent:

int*a;
int* a;
int *a;
int * a;

But there is some subtlety. Looking at the syntax for declaring multiple variables:
it will be seen that the "asterisk" is more of a variable modifier than a type modifier. To emphasize this fact, it is recommended to always write an asterisk next to a variable. This habit avoids stupid mistakes:

int *a, *b; // нормально
int* a, b;  // Ошибка: b кажется указателем, но на самом деле - число.

And the syntax of C is simple.

Answer 2

In C, as in most languages, spaces in code can be ignored. They are just one of the token separators. Moreover, some lexemes are separated without separators.