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What exactly does the static keyword do in C? I have seen it used in several diverse contexts: 1) As a variable outside a function: #include <stdio.h> static int x = 5; int main (void) ...
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Alexei
·
2022-02-13T11:40:29Z (almost 3 years ago)
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·
2021-12-02T09:51:53Z (almost 3 years ago)
What does the static keyword do in C?
What exactly does the `static` keyword do in C? I have seen it used in several diverse contexts:
**1) As a variable outside a function:**
```c
#include <stdio.h>
static int x = 5;
int main (void)
{
printf("%d\n", x);
}
```
**2) As a variable inside a function:**
```c
void func (void)
{
static int count=0;
printf("%d\n", count++);
}
```
**3) As part of a function declaration/definition:**
```c
static void func (void);
```
**4) As part of a function parameter list containing an array:**
```c
void func (int arr[static 5]);
```
All of these uses seem quite unrelated. What exactly is the purpose of `static` in all the above examples?