Associativity -- what is it?

[Peter J. Holsberg]

I find that associativity is a *very* difficult thing for me to explain,
undoubtedly because I don't understand it!  Would someone come to my
rescue?  Here's an example (assume that everything's been declared
correctly):

	x = 3 * i ++;

Book says that ++ has a higher precedence than *, and that ++
associates from R->L.  That makes me think that ++ should be applied
first, but I know it isn't.  But ????

Also, what does K&R say about these:
	--- a;
	- -- a;
	-- - a;
and
	---a;
	- --a;
	-- -a;


Thanks.

-- 
Peter Holsberg                  UUCP: {rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh
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