When you use -features=extensions, the compiler allows the forward declaration of enum types and variables. In addition, the compiler allows the declaration of a variable with an incomplete enum type. The compiler will always assume an incomplete enum type to have the same size and range as type int on the current platform.
The following two lines show an example of invalid code that will compile when you use the -features=extensions option.
enum E; // invalid: forward declaration of enum not allowed E e; // invalid: type E is incomplete
Because enum definitions cannot reference one another, and no enum definition can cross-reference another type, the forward declaration of an enumeration type is never necessary. To make the code valid, you can always provide the full definition of the enum before it is used.