Where are local static variables inside a function stored - in the data segment, or on the stack?

Question

#include <stdio.h>
 
void f (void)
{
    static int count = 0;   // static variable   
    int i = 0;              // automatic variable
    printf("%d %d\n", i++, count++);
}
 
int main(void)
{
    for (int ndx=0; ndx<10; ++ndx)
        f();
}

For example, in this code, where is count stored? Usually, static variables will be stored in the Data segment, and local variables are stored on the stack.

you can read linker manual or ld file to see where your data goes to, eg: static to section .bss, while const types to .rodata. while .stack only specifies the area and size of stack — JosiP, Sep 13 '21 at 15:58
Dupe? [**Where do static local variables go**](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16703886/where-do-static-local-variables-go?rq=1) — Andrew Henle, Sep 13 '21 at 16:49

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 13 '21 at 15:47

Formally, variables declared inside of a function as static have static storage duration, which means their lifetime is the lifetime of the entire program.

The C standard says nothing about stacks or segments as those are implementation details. That being said, on Linux initialized static variables are typically placed in the .data section while uninitialized or 0 initialized variables are stored in the .bss section.

Where are local static variables inside a function stored - in the data segment, or on the stack?

1 Answers1