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In computer programming, a static variable is a variable that has been allocated "statically", meaning that its lifetime (or "extent") is the entire run of the program. This is in contrast to shorter-lived automatic variables, whose storage is stack allocated and deallocated on the call stack; and in contrast to dynamically allocated objects, whose storage is allocated and deallocated in heap ...
In C++ (not C), the static keyword can also be used to declare a member variable in a class to have static storage duration as well, independent from the storage duration of the class object itself, and such a variable must be defined outside the class. The effect is that the variable is shared among all class instances, becoming a class member ...
The static keyword (static and extern are mutually exclusive), applied to the definition of an external variable, changes this a bit: the variable can only be accessed by the functions in the same module where it was defined. But it is possible for a function in the same module to pass a reference (pointer) of the variable to another function ...
In addition, a (non-static) member-function can be declared as const. In this case, the this pointer inside such a function is of type object_type const * rather than merely of type object_type *. [2] This means that non-const functions for this object cannot be called from inside such a function, nor can member variables be modified.
The different types of variables are static, stack-dynamic, explicit heap-dynamic, and implicit heap-dynamic. A static variable is also known as global variable, it is bound to a memory cell before execution begins and remains to the same memory cell until termination. A typical example is the static variables in C and C++.
Local variables are destroyed when the local block or function that they are declared in is closed. C++ destructors for local variables are called at the end of the object lifetime, allowing a discipline for automatic resource management termed RAII, which is widely used in C++. Member variables are created when the parent object is created.
Besides the static constants described above, many procedural languages such as Ada and C++ extend the concept of constantness toward global variables that are created at initialization time, local variables that are automatically created at runtime on the stack or in registers, to dynamically allocated memory that is accessed by pointer, and to parameter lists in function headers.
The C programming language manages memory statically, automatically, or dynamically.Static-duration variables are allocated in main memory, usually along with the executable code of the program, and persist for the lifetime of the program; automatic-duration variables are allocated on the stack and come and go as functions are called and return.