Editing Static variable (section)

==Scope==
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2023}}
{{see also|Variable (computer science)#Scope and extent}}

In terms of [[Variable (computer science)#Scope and extent|scope and extent]], static variables have extent the entire run of the program, but may have more limited [[Scope (computer science)|scope]]. A basic distinction is between a ''static global variable'', which has global scope and thus is in context throughout the program, and a ''[[static local variable]],'' which has local scope. A static local variable is different from a local variable as a static local variable is initialized only once no matter how many times the function in which it resides is called and its value is retained and accessible through many calls to the function in which it is declared, e.g. to be used as a count variable. A static variable may also have [[module scope]] or some variant, such as [[internal linkage]] in [[C programming language|C]], which is a form of file scope or module scope.

===Example===
An example of a static local variable in C:
<syntaxhighlight lang=c>
#include <stdio.h>

void Func() {
  static int x = 0;
  // |x| is initialized only once across five calls of |Func| and the variable
  // will get incremented five times after these calls. The final value of |x|
  // will be 5.
  x++;
  printf("%d\n", x);  // outputs the value of |x|
}

int main() {
  Func();  // prints 1
  Func();  // prints 2
  Func();  // prints 3
  Func();  // prints 4
  Func();  // prints 5

  return 0;
}
</syntaxhighlight>