C++ is a statically typed language. Hence, any variable cannot be used without specifying its type. This is why the type figures in the declaration. This way the compiler can protect you from trying to store a value of an incompatible type into a variable, e.g. storing a string in an integer variable.
Declaring variables before use also allows spelling errors to be easily detected. Consider a variable used in many statements, but misspelled in one of them. Without declarations, the compiler would silently assume that the misspelled variable actually refers to some other variable. With declarations, an “Undeclared Variable” error would be flagged.
Another reason for specifying the type of the variable is so the compiler knows how much space in memory must be allocated for this variable.
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