static function in C

Question

What is the point of making a function static in C?

Answer 1

Making a function static hides it from other translation units, which helps provide encapsulation.

helper_file.c

int f1(int);        /* prototype */
static int f2(int); /* prototype */

int f1(int foo) {
    return f2(foo); /* ok, f2 is in the same translation unit */
                    /* (basically same .c file) as f1         */
}

int f2(int foo) {
    return 42 + foo;
}

main.c:

int f1(int); /* prototype */
int f2(int); /* prototype */

int main(void) {
    f1(10); /* ok, f1 is visible to the linker */
    f2(12); /* nope, f2 is not visible to the linker */
    return 0;
}