Editing Static variable (section)

==History==
Static variables date at least to [[ALGOL 60]] (1960), where they are known as '''''own''' variables'':
{{quote
|A declaration may be marked with the additional declarator '''own.''' This has the following effect: upon a re-entry into the block, the values of '''own''' quantities will be unchanged from their values at the last exit, while the values of declared variables that are not marked with '''own''' is undefined.
|Revised report on ALGOL 60, section "5. Declarations", p. 14}}
This definition is subtly different from a static variable: it only specifies behavior, and hence lifetime, not storage: an own variable can be allocated when a function is first called, for instance, rather than at program load time.

The use of the word ''static'' to refer to these variables dates at least to [[BCPL]] (1966), and has been popularized by the [[C programming language]], which was heavily influenced by BCPL. The BCPL definition reads:
{{quote
|(1) Static data items:<br>Those data items whose extents lasts as long as the program execution time; such data items have manifest constant Lvalues. Every static data item must have been declared either in a function or routine definition, in a global declaration or as a label set by colon.
|The BCPL Reference Manual, 7.2 Space Allocation and Extent of Data Items}}
Note that BCPL defined a "dynamic data item" for what is now called an ''automatic'' variable (local, stack-allocated), not for heap-allocated objects, which is the current use of the term ''dynamic allocation''.

The [[Static (keyword)|<code>static</code> keyword]] is used in C and related languages both for static variables and other concepts.