Why are unnamed namespaces used and what are their benefits?

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I just joined a new C++ software project and I’m trying to understand the design. The project makes frequent use of unnamed namespaces. For example, something like this may occur in a class definition file:

// newusertype.cc
namespace {
  const int SIZE_OF_ARRAY_X;
  const int SIZE_OF_ARRAY_Y;
  bool getState(userType*,otherUserType*);
}

newusertype::newusertype(...) {...

What are the design considerations that might cause one to use an unnamed namespace? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

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