diff --git a/fourindex.h b/fourindex.h
index 07398b8..c9d727c 100644
--- a/fourindex.h
+++ b/fourindex.h
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ private:
 	void copylist(const matel4<I,T> *l);
 public:
 	//iterator
-	typedef class iterator {
+	class iterator {
 	private:
 		matel4<I,T> *p;
 	public:
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ public:
         
         //permiterator ... iterates also over all permutations, with a possibly scaled matrix element or skips permutations yielding equivalent result
         //has to take into account the symmetry type of the fourindex
-        typedef class piterator {
+        class piterator {
 	private:
 		fourindexsymtype symmetry;
 		matel4<I,T> *p;
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ public:
 //this is possible, since one instance of this class can have only one active iterator at a time
 	
 //iterator
-        typedef class iterator {
+        class iterator {
         private:
                 const fourindex_ext *base; 
         public:
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ public:
 
 
 //piterator ... iterate over all allowed permutations; conveniently expressed via the basic iterator which does the block-buffering
-        typedef class piterator {
+        class piterator {
         private:
                 fourindex_ext *base;
 		matel4<I,T> my;
diff --git a/la_traits.h b/la_traits.h
index 74589a0..229907a 100644
--- a/la_traits.h
+++ b/la_traits.h
@@ -86,8 +86,8 @@ struct LA_traits_io<unsigned char>
 //let's do some simple template metaprogramming and preprocessing
 //to keep the thing general and compact
 
-typedef class scalar_false {};
-typedef class scalar_true {};
+class scalar_false {};
+class scalar_true {};
 
 //default is non-scalar
 template<typename C>
diff --git a/laerror.cc b/laerror.cc
index d455c19..c61d74b 100644
--- a/laerror.cc
+++ b/laerror.cc
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include "laerror.h"
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 
diff --git a/sparsemat.h b/sparsemat.h
index 7eae455..be899f9 100644
--- a/sparsemat.h
+++ b/sparsemat.h
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ private:
 	void copylist(const matel<T> *l);
 public:
 	//iterator
-        typedef class iterator {
+        class iterator {
         private:
                 matel<T> *p;
         public: