Comment by jstimpfle

There is no spiral rule, that is a misconception. Look up how "declaration follows usage" in C. E.g. https://eigenstate.org/notes/c-decl

While this rule has become somewhat diluted when C developed and gradually took on features from C++ (like types in function parameters), it's still very helpful to understand the guiding principle. (But those inconsistencies that crept in over time are also the reason why newer languages don't do that anymore).