As far as I know regarding the <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">typedef</pre> keyword in C and C++, it's just used to rename datatypes, right? That's all I've ever ...

I believe your alternative is exactly equivalent, so the reason they didn't do it that way is just that they preferred their way for whatever reason. Presumably they found it familiar and readable and ...

Structures (or “structs” in C) allow you to group several related variables and treat them as one unit. They are a mechanism for extending the type system of the C language by introducing user-defined ...