How does an extern “C” declaration work?

Question

I\'m taking a programming languages course and we\'re talking about the extern \"C\" declaration.

How does this declaration work at a deeper level othe

Answer 1

extern "C" denotes that the enclosed code uses C-style linking and name mangling. C++ uses a more complex name mangling format. Here's an example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_mangling

int example(int alpha, char beta);

in C: _example

in C++: __Z7exampleic

Update: As GManNickG notes in the comments, the pattern of name mangling is compiler dependent.