What is external linkage and internal linkage?
C++C++ FaqC++ Problem Overview
I want to understand the external linkage and internal linkage and their difference.
I also want to know the meaning of
> const
variables internally link by default unless otherwise declared as extern
.
C++ Solutions
Solution 1 - C++
When you write an implementation file (.cpp
, .cxx
, etc) your compiler generates a translation unit. This is the source file from your implementation plus all the headers you #include
d in it.
Internal linkage refers to everything only in scope of a translation unit.
External linkage refers to things that exist beyond a particular translation unit. In other words, accessible through the whole program, which is the combination of all translation units (or object files).
Solution 2 - C++
As dudewat said external linkage means the symbol (function or global variable) is accessible throughout your program and internal linkage means that it is only accessible in one translation unit.
You can explicitly control the linkage of a symbol by using the extern
and static
keywords. If the linkage is not specified then the default linkage is extern
(external linkage) for non-const
symbols and static
(internal linkage) for const
symbols.
// In namespace scope or global scope.
int i; // extern by default
const int ci; // static by default
extern const int eci; // explicitly extern
static int si; // explicitly static
// The same goes for functions (but there are no const functions).
int f(); // extern by default
static int sf(); // explicitly static
Note that instead of using static
(internal linkage), it is better to use anonymous namespaces into which you can also put class
es. Though they allow extern
linkage, anonymous namespaces are unreachable from other translation units, making linkage effectively static
.
namespace {
int i; // extern by default but unreachable from other translation units
class C; // extern by default but unreachable from other translation units
}
Solution 3 - C++
- A global variable has external linkage by default. Its scope can be extended to files other than containing it by giving a matching
extern
declaration in the other file. - The scope of a global variable can be restricted to the file containing its declaration by prefixing the declaration with the keyword
static
. Such variables are said to have internal linkage.
Consider following example:
1.cpp
void f(int i);
extern const int max = 10;
int n = 0;
int main()
{
int a;
//...
f(a);
//...
f(a);
//...
}
- The signature of function
f
declaresf
as a function with external linkage (default). Its definition must be provided later in this file or in other translation unit (given below). max
is defined as an integer constant. The default linkage for constants is internal. Its linkage is changed to external with the keywordextern
. So nowmax
can be accessed in other files.n
is defined as an integer variable. The default linkage for variables defined outside function bodies is external.
2.cpp
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
extern const int max;
extern int n;
static float z = 0.0;
void f(int i)
{
static int nCall = 0;
int a;
//...
nCall++;
n++;
//...
a = max * z;
//...
cout << "f() called " << nCall << " times." << endl;
}
max
is declared to have external linkage. A matching definition formax
(with external linkage) must appear in some file. (As in 1.cpp)n
is declared to have external linkage.z
is defined as a global variable with internal linkage.- The definition of
nCall
specifiesnCall
to be a variable that retains its value across calls to functionf()
. Unlike local variables with the default auto storage class,nCall
will be initialized only once at the start of the program and not once for each invocation off()
. The storage class specifierstatic
affects the lifetime of the local variable and not its scope.
NB: The keyword static
plays a double role. When used in the definitions of global variables, it specifies internal linkage. When used in the definitions of the local variables, it specifies that the lifetime of the variable is going to be the duration of the program instead of being the duration of the function.
Hope that helps!
Solution 4 - C++
In terms of 'C' (Because static keyword has different meaning between 'C' & 'C++')
Lets talk about different scope in 'C'
SCOPE: It is basically how long can I see something and how far.
-
Local variable : Scope is only inside a function. It resides in the STACK area of RAM. Which means that every time a function gets called all the variables that are the part of that function, including function arguments are freshly created and are destroyed once the control goes out of the function. (Because the stack is flushed every time function returns)
-
Static variable: Scope of this is for a file. It is accessible every where in the file
in which it is declared. It resides in the DATA segment of RAM. Since this can only be accessed inside a file and hence INTERNAL linkage. Any
other files cannot see this variable. In fact STATIC keyword is the only way in which we can introduce some level of data or function
hiding in 'C' -
Global variable: Scope of this is for an entire application. It is accessible form every where of the application. Global variables also resides in DATA segment Since it can be accessed every where in the application and hence EXTERNAL Linkage
By default all functions are global. In case, if you need to hide some functions in a file from outside, you can prefix the static keyword to the function. :-)
Solution 5 - C++
Before talking about the question, it is better to know the term translation unit, program and some basic concepts of C++ (actually linkage is one of them in general) precisely. You will also have to know what is a scope.
I will emphasize some key points, esp. those missing in previous answers.
Linkage is a property of a name, which is introduced by a declaration. Different names can denote same entity (typically, an object or a function). So talking about linkage of an entity is usually nonsense, unless you are sure that the entity will only be referred by the unique name from some specific declarations (usually one declaration, though).
Note an object is an entity, but a variable is not. While talking about the linkage of a variable, actually the name of the denoted entity (which is introduced by a specific declaration) is concerned. The linkage of the name is in one of the three: no linkage, internal linkage or external linkage.
Different translation units can share the same declaration by header/source file (yes, it is the standard's wording) inclusion. So you may refer the same name in different translation units. If the name declared has external linkage, the identity of the entity referred by the name is also shared. If the name declared has internal linkage, the same name in different translation units denotes different entities, but you can refer the entity in different scopes of the same translation unit. If the name has no linkage, you simply cannot refer the entity from other scopes.
(Oops... I found what I have typed was somewhat just repeating the standard wording ...)
There are also some other confusing points which are not covered by the language specification.
- Visibility (of a name). It is also a property of declared name, but with a meaning different to linkage.
- Visibility (of a side effect). This is not related to this topic.
- Visibility (of a symbol). This notion can be used by actual implementations. In such implementations, a symbol with specific visibility in object (binary) code is usually the target mapped from the entity definition whose names having the same specific linkage in the source (C++) code. However, it is usually not guaranteed one-to-one. For example, a symbol in a dynamic library image can be specified only shared in that image internally from source code (involved with some extensions, typically,
__attribute__
or__declspec
) or compiler options, and the image is not the whole program or the object file translated from a translation unit, thus no standard concept can describe it accurately. Since symbol is not a normative term in C++, it is only an implementation detail, even though the related extensions of dialects may have been widely adopted. - Accessibility. In C++, this is usually about property of class members or base classes, which is again a different concept unrelated to the topic.
- Global. In C++, "global" refers something of global namespace or global namespace scope. The latter is roughly equivalent to file scope in the C language. Both in C and C++, the linkage has nothing to do with scope, although scope (like linkage) is also tightly concerned with an identifier (in C) or a name (in C++) introduced by some declaration.
The linkage rule of namespace scope const
variable is something special (and particularly different to the const
object declared in file scope in C language which also has the concept of linkage of identifiers). Since ODR is enforced by C++, it is important to keep no more than one definition of the same variable or function occurred in the whole program except for inline
functions. If there is no such special rule of const
, a simplest declaration of const
variable with initializers (e.g. = xxx
) in a header or a source file (often a "header file") included by multiple translation units (or included by one translation unit more than once, though rarely) in a program will violate ODR, which makes to use const
variable as replacement of some object-like macros impossible.
Solution 6 - C++
I think Internal and External Linkage in C++ gives a clear and concise explanation:
> A translation unit refers to an implementation (.c/.cpp) file and all
> header (.h/.hpp) files it includes. If an object or function inside
> such a translation unit has internal linkage, then that specific
> symbol is only visible to the linker within that translation unit. If
> an object or function has external linkage, the linker can also see it
> when processing other translation units. The static keyword, when used
> in the global namespace, forces a symbol to have internal linkage. The
> extern keyword results in a symbol having external linkage.
>
> The compiler defaults the linkage of symbols such that:
>
> Non-const global variables have external linkage by default
> Const global variables have internal linkage by default
> Functions have external linkage by default
Solution 7 - C++
Basically
extern linkage
variable is visible in all filesinternal linkage
variable is visible in single file.
Explain: const variables internally link by default unless otherwise declared as extern
- by default, global variable is
external linkage
- but,
const
global variable isinternal linkage
- extra,
extern const
global variable isexternal linkage
A pretty good material about linkage in C++
http://www.goldsborough.me/c/c++/linker/2016/03/30/19-34-25-internal_and_external_linkage_in_c++/
Solution 8 - C++
Linkage determines whether identifiers that have identical names refer to the same object, function, or other entity, even if those identifiers appear in different translation units. The linkage of an identifier depends on how it was declared. There are three types of linkages:
- Internal linkage : identifiers can only be seen within a translation unit.
- External linkage : identifiers can be seen (and referred to) in other translation units.
- No linkage : identifiers can only be seen in the scope in which they are defined. Linkage does not affect scoping
C++ only : You can also have linkage between C++ and non-C++ code fragments, which is called language linkage.
Source :IBM Program Linkage
Solution 9 - C++
In C++
Any variable at file scope and that is not nested inside a class or function, is visible throughout all translation units in a program. This is called external linkage because at link time the name is visible to the linker everywhere, external to that translation unit.
Global variables and ordinary functions have external linkage.
Static object or function name at file scope is local to translation unit. That is called as Internal Linkage
Linkage refers only to elements that have addresses at link/load time; thus, class declarations and local variables have no linkage.