Hi all,
I am reading "C: A Reference Manual" 4th ed and I get lost for the
"extern". It says that global object without specifying the
storage-class specifier will have "extern" as the default storage-class
specifier. My (little) C experience tells me that an object with
"extern" is to let the linker knows that the object is referencing the
object defined in somewhere, and this "somewhere" object does not have
the storage-class specifier "extern". That is:
<------------ file A ------------>
int A;
...
A=10;
<------------ file B ------------>
extern int A;
if (A)
...
But if the default storage-class specifier is "extern", then
variable "int A" is, indeed, "extern int A". Then who is the definiting
occurence?
Please correct me if there is a mis-concept.
19  3858 
ccwork wrote: Hi all,
I am reading "C: A Reference Manual" 4th ed and I get lost for the
"extern". It says that global object without specifying the
storage-class specifier will have "extern" as the default
storage-class specifier. My (little) C experience tells me that an object with
"extern" is to let the linker knows that the object is referencing
the object defined in somewhere, and this "somewhere" object does not
have the storage-class specifier "extern". That is:
<------------ file A ------------>
int A;
...
A=10;
<------------ file B ------------>
extern int A;
if (A)
...
But if the default storage-class specifier is "extern", then
variable "int A" is, indeed, "extern int A". Then who is the
definiting occurence?
Please correct me if there is a mis-concept.
'extern' specifies external linkage for an identifier, nothing more.
It makes the identifier known to the linker so it could be referenced.
The definition of variable A occurs in file "A".
P.Krumins
ccwork wrote: I am reading "C: A Reference Manual" 4th ed and I get lost for the
"extern". It says that global object without specifying the
storage-class specifier will have "extern" as the default storage-class
specifier. My (little) C experience tells me that an object with
"extern" is to let the linker knows that the object is referencing the
object defined in somewhere, and this "somewhere" object does not have
the storage-class specifier "extern". That is:
<------------ file A ------------>
int A;
...
A=10;
<------------ file B ------------>
extern int A;
if (A)
...
But if the default storage-class specifier is "extern", then
variable "int A" is, indeed, "extern int A". Then who is the definiting
occurence?
Please correct me if there is a mis-concept.
C language doesn't not rely on the concept of "linker". There's no
"linker" in C. At language level, external linkage of an identifier
means just one thing - that this identifier refers to the same object
(or function) in all translation units. How this requirement is
implemented in practice (using that "linker" thingy or something else)
is an implementation detail, a completely different story, irrelevant to
the language itself.
If you really want to think about this in terms of "exporting/importing"
access to the object, think of it this way: when 'extern' is included in
a _definition_ of some object, it "exports" the corresponding identifier
to the outside world (i.e. other translation units), but when 'extern'
is included in a mere _declaration_ of an object, it "imports" the
identifier from the outside world.
In your case 'int A' in file 'A' is a definition of an identifier 'A'
attached to an object of type 'int'. This identifier has external
linkage by default, meaning that identifier 'A' is "exported", made
accessible from other translation units. In order to access this object
other translation units have to "import" this identifier by providing an
'extern' _declaration_ for it. That's exactly what you have in file 'B'.
--
Best regards,
Andrey Tarasevich
Andrey Tarasevich wrote:
C language doesn't not rely on the concept of "linker".
[I presume you didn't mean to add the extra 'not'.]
There's no "linker" in C.
So what's translation phase 8 all about then?
At language level, external linkage of an identifier means just
one thing - that this identifier refers to the same object (or
function) in all translation units. How this requirement is
implemented in practice (using that "linker" thingy or something
else) is an implementation detail, a completely different story,
irrelevant to the language itself.
"Library components are linked..."
How does an implementation link _without_ a linker?
Even C interpreters must have a linker, just as they must have
a function call stack.
--
Peter
Andrey Tarasevich wrote: ccwork wrote: I am reading "C: A Reference Manual" 4th ed and I get lost for
the "extern". It says that global object without specifying the
storage-class specifier will have "extern" as the default
storage-class specifier. My (little) C experience tells me that an object with
"extern" is to let the linker knows that the object is referencing
the object defined in somewhere, and this "somewhere" object does not
have the storage-class specifier "extern". That is:
<------------ file A ------------>
int A;
...
A=10;
<------------ file B ------------>
extern int A;
if (A)
...
But if the default storage-class specifier is "extern", then
variable "int A" is, indeed, "extern int A". Then who is the
definiting occurence?
Please correct me if there is a mis-concept.
C language doesn't not rely on the concept of "linker". There's no
"linker" in C. At language level, external linkage of an identifier
means just one thing - that this identifier refers to the same object
(or function) in all translation units. How this requirement is
implemented in practice (using that "linker" thingy or something
else) is an implementation detail, a completely different story, irrelevant
to the language itself.
If you really want to think about this in terms of
"exporting/importing" access to the object, think of it this way: when 'extern' is included
in a _definition_ of some object, it "exports" the corresponding
identifier to the outside world (i.e. other translation units), but when
'extern' is included in a mere _declaration_ of an object, it "imports" the
identifier from the outside world.
In your case 'int A' in file 'A' is a definition of an identifier 'A'
attached to an object of type 'int'. This identifier has external
linkage by default, meaning that identifier 'A' is "exported", made
accessible from other translation units. In order to access this
object other translation units have to "import" this identifier by providing
an 'extern' _declaration_ for it. That's exactly what you have in file
'B'.
That's the problem. Since global variable is regraded as "extern"
(is this right?), in other words, file A means:
<------------ file A ------------>
extern int A;
...
A=10;
<------------ file B ------------>
extern int A;
if (A)
...
Then how do I know which one is the defining occurrence of A? Does
the assignment on A=10 specify the declaraction "extern int A" in file
A is the definition? Or else?
if both files have variabled defined as "extern" , there is no harm if
one is of the form:
extern int a =1;
i will try on rh9 to test it.
ccwork wrote: ...
In your case 'int A' in file 'A' is a definition of an identifier 'A'
attached to an object of type 'int'. This identifier has external
linkage by default, meaning that identifier 'A' is "exported", made
accessible from other translation units. In order to access this object other translation units have to "import" this identifier by providing
an 'extern' _declaration_ for it. That's exactly what you have in file
'B'.
That's the problem. Since global variable is regraded as "extern"
(is this right?), in other words, file A means:
<------------ file A ------------>
extern int A;
...
A=10;
<------------ file B ------------>
extern int A;
if (A)
...
No. The original 'int A' was a _definition_ of an object with external
linkage. 'extern int A' is a non-defining _declaration_ of an identifier
with external linkage. These are not the same.
'int A' defines an object with external linkage, but that doesn't mean
that you can just add an explicit 'extern' keyword here and get the same
thing. Adding 'extern' to 'int A' will have an unwanted side effect of
turning this definition into a non-defining declaration.
Then how do I know which one is the defining occurrence of A?
Neither. 'A' is not defined in the above files.
Does
the assignment on A=10 specify the declaraction "extern int A" in file
A is the definition?
Assignment? How do intend to use assignment here?
If you include an initializer into the declaration, this declaration
will become a definition, even if you specify an explicit 'extern'
extern int A; // non-defining declaration
extern int A = 0; // definition
--
Best regards,
Andrey Tarasevich
ccwork wrote: Andrey Tarasevich wrote:
ccwork wrote:
I am reading "C: A Reference Manual" 4th ed and I get lost for
the
"extern". It says that global object without specifying the
storage-class specifier will have "extern" as the default
storage-class
specifier. My (little) C experience tells me that an object with
"extern" is to let the linker knows that the object is referencing
the
object defined in somewhere, and this "somewhere" object does not
have
the storage-class specifier "extern". That is:
<------------ file A ------------>
int A;
...
A=10;
<------------ file B ------------>
extern int A;
if (A)
...
But if the default storage-class specifier is "extern", then
variable "int A" is, indeed, "extern int A". Then who is the
definiting
occurence?
Please correct me if there is a mis-concept.
C language doesn't not rely on the concept of "linker". There's no
"linker" in C. At language level, external linkage of an identifier
means just one thing - that this identifier refers to the same object
(or function) in all translation units. How this requirement is
implemented in practice (using that "linker" thingy or something
else)
is an implementation detail, a completely different story, irrelevant
to
the language itself.
If you really want to think about this in terms of
"exporting/importing"
access to the object, think of it this way: when 'extern' is included
in
a _definition_ of some object, it "exports" the corresponding
identifier
to the outside world (i.e. other translation units), but when
'extern'
is included in a mere _declaration_ of an object, it "imports" the
identifier from the outside world.
In your case 'int A' in file 'A' is a definition of an identifier 'A'
attached to an object of type 'int'. This identifier has external
linkage by default, meaning that identifier 'A' is "exported", made
accessible from other translation units. In order to access this
object
other translation units have to "import" this identifier by providing
an
'extern' _declaration_ for it. That's exactly what you have in file
'B'.
That's the problem. Since global variable is regraded as "extern"
(is this right?), in other words, file A means:
<------------ file A ------------>
extern int A;
...
A=10;
<------------ file B ------------>
extern int A;
if (A)
...
Then how do I know which one is the defining occurrence of A? Does
the assignment on A=10 specify the declaraction "extern int A" in file
A is the definition? Or else?
'extern' indicates to the compiler the actual storage space is allocated
elsewhere. Because now your example (is slightly different to above) has
no 'int A', only 'extern int A', no storage space is actually created for A.
Hence at link time there will be a failure as A is not defined anywhere.
As for A=10, that doesn't actually allocate space, this is just an
assignment, it has nothing to do with the definition of A.
On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 18:06:28 -0700, ccwork wrote: Hi all,
I am reading "C: A Reference Manual" 4th ed and I get lost for the
"extern". It says that global object without specifying the
storage-class specifier will have "extern" as the default storage-class
specifier.
C doesn't define the term "global". It is commonly used and misused in
different and contradictory ways. I assume the text above is referring to
declarations at file scope i.e. outside of any function.
My (little) C experience tells me that an object with
"extern" is to let the linker knows that the object is referencing the
object defined in somewhere, and this "somewhere" object does not have
the storage-class specifier "extern". That is:
<------------ file A ------------>
int A;
...
A=10;
<------------ file B ------------>
extern int A;
if (A)
...
But if the default storage-class specifier is "extern", then
variable "int A" is, indeed, "extern int A". Then who is the definiting
occurence?
It is incorrect to say that the default storage-class specifier is extern,
however it would be correct to say that the default linkage for file scope
declarations is external. The presence of extern in file B above makes a
difference, extern int A is just a declaration, it doesn't act as a
definition of A. int A; does (technically it is called a tentative
definition but the end resukt is that it is a definition here). Note that
providing an initialiser forces it to be a full definition, e.g.
extern int A = 1; /* Is a full definition */
Lawrence
On 5 Apr 2005 21:18:19 -0700, in comp.lang.c , "Peter Nilsson"
<ai***@acay.com .au> wrote: How does an implementation link _without_ a linker?
who knows - maybe it does runtime binding, like, er most OSen do...
Even C interpreters must have a linker, just as they must have
a function call stack
Must they? Does it say that in the standard? .
--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.ungerhu.com/jxh/clc.welcome.txt > This thread has been closed and replies have been disabled. Please start a new discussion. Similar topics | |
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