IDL specifications may include type declarations and constant declarations as in C and C++, with the restrictions/extensions described below. [Note: For any reader not familiar with C, a recommended reference is The C Programming Language (2nd edition, 1988, Prentice Hall) by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie. See pages 36-40 for a discussion of type and constant declarations.]
IDL supports the following basic types (these basic types are also defined for C and C++ client and implementation programs, using the SOM bindings):