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For a user-defined data type, what should be used typedef or #define?

C language frequently asked question on string declaration: For a user-defined data type, what should be used typedef or #define?
Submitted by IncludeHelp, on December 20, 2017

Both typedef and #define can be used for a user-defined data type. But, typedef is preferred because it can correctly encode pointer type.

Consider the given declarations:

typedef char * tPC
#define dPC char *

tPC ob1,obj2;
dPC ob3,ob4;

Here, ob1, ob2 and ob3 will be declared as char*, but ob4 will be declared as char (while, we want to declare ob4 as char*)