How deeply does Modern C cover static storage?

Defines static duration, its declaration routes, whole-execution lifetime, and initialization constraints, while only briefly noting linker mechanics.

Static storage

As explained in Modern C

static is a C storage class specifier that gives an object static storage duration and can affect linkage.

An object with static storage duration exists for the entire program execution. It can be defined at file scope or declared inside a function block with the static storage-class specifier. Static duration does not make an identifier visible everywhere: scope still controls visibility. section 13.2.1 section 13.2

Static-duration objects are always initialized. Their initialization must be possible at compile time or through the system’s startup procedure; when no initializer is provided, the object is initialized to zero. section 13.2.1 section 13.4

Table 13.1. Storage classes, scope, linkage of identifiers, and storage duration of the associated objects Tentative indicates that a definition is implied only if there is no other definition with an initializer. Induced indicates that the linkage is internal if another declaration with internal linkage has been met prior to that declaration; otherwise, it is external. (view table figure)

Class	Scope	Definition	Linkage	Duration	Lifetime
Initialized	File	Yes	External	Static	Whole execution
extern, initialized	File	Yes	External	Static	Whole execution
Compound literal	File	Yes	N/A	Static	Whole execution
String literal	Any	Yes	N/A	Static	Whole execution
static, initialized	Any	Yes	Internal	Static	Whole execution
Uninitialized	File	Tentative	External	Static	Whole execution
extern, uninitialized	Any	No	Induced	Static	Whole execution
static, uninitialized	Any	Tentative	Internal	Static	Whole execution
thread_local	File	Yes	External	Thread	Whole thread
extern thread_local	Any	No	External	Thread	Whole thread
static thread_local	Any	Yes	internal	Thread	Whole thread
Compound literal			N/A
Non-VLA			None
Non-VLA, auto	Block	Yes	None	Automatic	Block of definition
register			None
VLA	Block	Yes	None	Automatic	From definition to end of block
Function return with array	Block	Yes	None	Automatic	To the end of expression

Compare storage classes by scope, linkage, storage duration, and initialization. section 13.2

How Modern C covers it

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Also explained in

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Modern C, Third EditionA static object is a C object with static storage duration whose lifetime extends across the entire program execution.

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Related concepts

initializationconfigures · Initialization is the process of establishing initial values or a starting state for a program entity, component, resource, or computation before subsequent operation.
storage classkind of · A storage class specifier is a C declaration keyword that specifies an object's storage duration, linkage, or related declaration properties.
compound literalused by · A compound literal is a C expression consisting of a parenthesized type name followed by an initializer that creates an unnamed object.
externconfigured by · extern is a language construct for declaring or referring to entities supplied outside the current declaration or compilation unit, including through external linkage or foreign interfaces.
stack overflowproduced by · A stack overflow is a runtime failure caused by exhausting the available capacity of a program’s call stack.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Modern C. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.