Why do function pointer definitions work with any number of ampersands '&' or asterisks '*'?

Question

Why do the following work?

void foo() {
    cout << \"Foo to you too!\\n\";
};

int main() {
    void (*p1_foo)() = foo;
    void (*p2_foo)() = *foo;
          


        

Answer 1

I think it's also helpful to remember that C is just an abstraction for the underlying machine and this is one of the places where that abstraction is leaking.

From the perspective of the computer, a function is just a memory address which, if executed, performs other instructions. So a function in C is itself modelled as an address, which probably leads to the design that a function is "the same" as the address it points to.