The following ‘C’ statement : int * f[ ]( ) ; declares :

Parsing the declaration:

Start with the identifier f. The postfix [] immediately after the name makes f an array of unspecified size.

The following () applies to each array element, so each element would have to be a function.

The leading * is not missed; it makes the function return a pointer to int. In other words, the parsed meaning is: array of functions returning int *.

However, this parsed meaning is not valid in standard C because an array cannot have function type as its element type. That is why the best answer is Option D: an illegal statement.

If the intention were an array of pointers to functions returning int *, the parentheses would have to bind the * with f:

int *(*f[])();

So the given declaration int * f[](); is illegal, while int *(*f[])(); is the valid array-of-function-pointers form.