Can the C main() function be static?

Question

Can the main() function be declared static in a C program? If so then what is the use of it?

Is it possible if I use assembly code and call

Answer 1

You could have a static function called main() in a source file, and it would probably compile, but it would not be the main() function because it would be invisible to the linker when the start-up code (crt0.o on many (older) Unix systems) calls main().

Given the code:

static int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    return(argv + argc);
}

extern int x(int argc, char **argv)
{
    return(main(argc, argv));
}

GCC with -Wall helpfully says:

 warning: 'main' is normally a non-static function

Yes, it can be done. No, it is normally a mistake - and it is not the main() function.