Declaration vs definition in C

╄→尐↘猪︶ㄣ 提交于 2019-12-20 03:13:34

问题


Consider the code:

int main(void)
{
    int a;
}

As far as I know, int a; is a definition, as it causes storage to be reserved. Citing the C standard (N1570 Committee Draft — April 12, 2011):

6.7/5 Semantics A declaration specifies the interpretation and attributes of a set of identifiers. A definition of an identifier is a declaration for that identifier that:

— for an object, causes storage to be reserved for that object;

...

Here comes the question: the compiler may optimize away the storage, since we are not using the variable. Is then int a; a declaration then? And what if we do a printf("%p", &a) in main(void) - certainly now the compiler has to allocate storage, so is the concept of declaration/definition dependent on whether you later use the identifier or not?


回答1:


The text you quoted from 6.7/5 is actually meant to be interpreted the other way around than what you have done: the text is saying that definitions cause storage to be allocated.

The text which specifies that int a; is a definition is elsewhere.

C is defined in terms of an abstract machine. There is storage allocated in the abstract machine. Whether or not any memory is allocated on your PC is unrelated.




回答2:


Is then int a; a declaration then?

Yes.

In fact, every definition is also a declaration. A variable can have only one definition, but could have multiple declarations.




回答3:


int a;

This is a definition There is a memory allocated for variable a

extern int a;

This is a declaration. Memory is not allocated because it is not defined.

Once a variable is defined you can use the address of it which is totally legal.




回答4:


A declaration introduces an identifier and describes its type, be it a type, object, or function. A declaration is what the compiler needs to accept references to that identifier. These are declarations:

extern int bar;
extern int g(int, int);

A definition actually instantiates/implements this identifier. It's what the linker needs in order to link references to those entities. These are definitions corresponding to the above declarations:

int bar;
int g(int lhs, int rhs) {return lhs*rhs;}


来源:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33163028/declaration-vs-definition-in-c

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