Enum tags - C vs C++

So you're minding your own business when you come across a gem like this:
typedef enum __MIDL___MIDL_itf_qnetwork_0082_0001 {
AM_EXSEEK_CANSEEK = 1,
AM_EXSEEK_CANSCAN = 2
} AMExtendedSeekingCapabilities;
It doesn't take much to bring out the inherent beauty of C...it rolls off the tongue like the name of a fine perfume. Anyway, this is legal in both C and C++, but the rules are a little bit different.

First of all, this is a typedef statement. __MIDL___MIDL_itf_qnetwork_0082_0001 is the enum tag and AMExtendedSeekingCapabilities is the defined type. (I know, those aren't the real C++ spec names...)

A few things are clear:

• In C or C++ we can assign the enumerated values (AM_EXSEEK_CANSEEK, AM_EXSEEK_CANSCAN) to an integral type, and we'll get the values 1 and 2.
• I have no idea how big one of these enums is...check your local compiler settings. It may be that this enum only takes up 8 bits or it may have been allocated a full 32 bits. (We use ints for our enums in the X-Plane SDK to be sure how big they are. We lose type safety but see below.)

Now here's where things get fun. C is picky: it requires the "enum" keyword when using the tag but not when using the typedef. In other words:
typedef enum tag { a, b } def;

enum tag var1; // legal - enum keyword and tag go together.
tag var2; // illegal - tag requires the enum keyword.
enum def var3; // illegal - enum keyword cannot be used with a typedef.
def var4; // legal - typedef is usable on its own.
By comparison, all 4 of those statements will compile correctly in C++. You can see C++ code like this:
enum letters {
a, b, c, d
};
letters my_var = a;
This won't work in C++.

But C++ is more strict than C when it comes to typing. Given our above example, we can do this in C:
def my_var = 5; // Illegal in C++
In C++ you'll get an error -- you can assign an int to an enum but not vise versa.