Is there a difference between initializing a variable and assigning it a value immediately after declaration?

Question

Assuming a purely non-optimizing compiler, is there any difference in machine code between initializing a variable and assigning it a value after declaration?

Answer 1

An important distinction comes into play when you add a const qualifier:

int const x = 2;

is valid C

int const x;
x = 2;

isn't. Another important difference is for static variables:

static int x = f();

is invalid C

static int x;
x = f();

is valid.