C++ object name same as class name
<p>I happen to write a code like this:</p>

<pre><code>class a
{
    public:
        a() {}
};


int main()
{
    a *a = new a;        // line 10
    a a;                 // line 11
    return 0;
}
</code></pre>

<p>g++ errors out:</p>

<pre><code>2.c: In function ‘int main()’:
2.c:10:16: error: expected type-specifier before ‘a’
2.c:10:16: error: cannot convert ‘int*’ to ‘a*’ in initialization
2.c:10:16: error: expected ‘,’ or ‘;’ before ‘a’
2.c:11:7: error: expected ‘;’ before ‘a’
</code></pre>

<p>I found that, if I change "a *a" to "a *b" at line 10, then g++ is happy, here is the good code:</p>

<pre><code>class a
{
    public:
        a() {}
};


int main()
{
    a *b = new a;
    a a;
    return 0;
}
</code></pre>

<p>I am confused, not sure why the original code does not compile and how the "fix" works.</p>

<p>Any idea?</p>
