Internal Linkage and External Linkage in C

Scope rules in C

Last Updated : 10 Jul, 2025

The scope of a variable in C is the block or the region in the program where a variable is declared, defined, and used. Outside this region, we cannot access the variable, and it is treated as an undeclared identifier.

The scope is the area under which a variable is visible.
The scope of an identifier is the part of the program where the identifier may directly be accessible.
We can only refer to a variable in its scope.
In C, all identifiers are lexically(or statically) scoped.

Example

C

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    // Scope of this variable is 
    // within main() function only.
    int var = 34;

    printf("%d", var);
    return 0;
}

// function where we try to access 
// the var defined in main()
void func() { printf("%d", var); }

Output

solution.c: In function 'func':
solution.c:15:28: error: 'var' undeclared (first use in this function)
 void func() { printf("%d", var); }

Here, we tried to access variable names var As we can see that if we try to refer to the variable outside its scope, we get the above error.

Types of Scope Rules in C

C scope rules can be covered under the following two categories:

Global Scope
Local Scope

Let's discuss each scope rule with examples.

1. Global Scope in C

The global scope refers to the region outside any block or function.

The variables declared in the global scope are called global variables.
Global variables are visible in every part of the program.
Global is also called File Scope as the scope of an identifier starts at the beginning of the file and ends at the end of the file.

Example

C

#include <stdio.h>
 
// variable declared in global scope
int global = 5;
 
// global variable accessed from
// within a function
void display(){
    printf("%d\n", global);
}

int main(){
    printf("Before change within main: ");
    display();
 
    // changing value of global
    // variable from main function
    printf("After change within main: ");
    global = 10;
    display();
}

Output

Before change within main: 5
After change within main: 10

Linkage of Variables in Global Scope

Global variables have external linkage by default. It means that the variables declared in the global scope can be accessed in another C source file. We have to use the extern keyword for that purpose.

Example of External Linkage

file1.c

C

// filename: file1.c
#include <stdio.h>

// Define the global variable
int a;

// Define the function to 
// use the global variable
void myfun(){
    printf("%d\n", a);
}

main.c

C

// filename: main.c
#include <stdio.h>

// Declare the external variable and function
extern int a;
void myfun();

int main(void)
{
    // Initialize the global variable
    a = 2;

    // Call the function to print the value of 'a'
    myfun();

    return 0;
}

Output

Note: To restrict access to the current file only, global variables can be marked as static.

2. Local Scope in C

The local scope refers to the region inside a block or a function. It is the space enclosed between the { } braces.

The variables declared within the local scope are called local variables.
Local variables are visible in the block they are declared in and other blocks nested inside that block.
Local scope is also called Block scope.
Local variables have no linkage.

Example

C

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    {
        int x = 10, y = 20;
        {
            // The outer block contains
            // declaration of x and
            // y, so following statement
            // is valid and prints
            // 10 and 20
            printf("x = %d, y = %d\n", x, y);
            {
                // y is declared again,
                // so outer block y is
                // not accessible in this block
                int y = 40;

                // Changes the outer block
                // variable x to 11
                x++;

                // Changes this block's
                // variable y to 41
                y++;

                printf("x = %d, y = %d\n", x, y);
            }

            // This statement accesses
            // only outer block's
            // variables
            printf("x = %d, y = %d\n", x, y);
        }
    }
    return 0;
}

Output

x = 10, y = 20
x = 11, y = 41
x = 11, y = 20

Global Variables and Scope in C

Internal Linkage and External Linkage in C

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