Is “inline” without “static” or “extern” ever useful in C99?

Question

When I try to build this code

inline void f() {}

int main()
{
    f();
}

using the command line

gcc -std=c99 -o a a.c
         


        

Answer 1

Actually this excellent answer also answers your question, I think:

What does extern inline do?

The idea is that "inline" can be used in a header file, and then "extern inline" in a .c file. "extern inline" is just how you instruct the compiler which object file should contain the (externally visible) generated code.

[update, to elaborate]

I do not think there is any use for "inline" (without "static" or "extern") in a .c file. But in a header file it makes sense, and it requires a corresponding "extern inline" declaration in some .c file to actually generate the stand-alone code.