Re: question about linker

On 03/12/2024 11:15, Ben Bacarisse wrote:

Bart <bc@freeuk.com> writes:
...

If I write this
>
   int *A, B[10], C(int);
>
My compiler tells me that:
>
   A is a local variable with type 'ref i32' (expressed in other syntax)
   B is a local variable with type '[10]i32'
   C is a function with return type of 'i32', taking one unnamed
     parameter of type 'i32'.
>
(Interestingly, it places C into module scope, so the same declaration can
also create names in different scopes!)

 A small correction: that declaration gives all three names the same
scope[1].

This is what I observed my compiler doing, because it displays the symbol table. It puts C into module-scope, so I can access it also from another function without another declaration (so non-conforming, but I'm long past caring).
I can't see gcc's symbol table, but I can't access C from another function without it having its own declaration, or there being a module-scope one.
With gcc, such a declaration inside a function suffices to be able access a function 'C' defined later in the file.

 You are confusing scope with linkage.

It's possible. So a function declaration inside a function gives the name external linkage (?). Which in this context means the function will be outside this one, but elsewhere in the module, rather than being imported from elsewhere module.
If I say I find these quirks of C confusing, people will have another go at me. So let's say it makes perfect sense for 'extern' to mean two different things!