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Global variable

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containing their declarations but also to every other compilation unit that is linked to form the complete program. External linkage, however, is not sufficient for such a variable's use in other files: for a compilation unit to correctly access such a global variable, it will need to know its type.
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Global variables are used extensively to pass information between sections of code that do not share a caller/callee relation like concurrent threads and signal handlers. Languages (including C) where each file defines an implicit namespace eliminate most of the problems seen with languages with a
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I (1956) only provide global variables. Fortran II (1958) introduced subroutines with local variables, and the COMMON keyword for accessing global variables. Usage of COMMON in FORTRAN continued in FORTRAN 77, and influenced later languages such as PL/SQL. Named COMMON groups for globals behave
802:) exist independently of any instances of the class and one copy is shared among all instances; hence public static fields are used for many of the same purposes as global variables in other languages because of their similar "sharing" behavior: 851:
keyword and a number of unusual ways of using global variables. Variables declared outside functions have file scope (which is for most purposes the widest scope). However, they are not accessible inside functions unless imported with the
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They are local to the process in which they were set. That means if we open two terminal windows (Two different processes running shell) and change value of environment variable in one window, that change will not be seen by other window.
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Some languages, like Java, don't have global variables. In Java, all variables that are not local variables are fields of a class. Hence all variables are in the scope of either a class or a method. In Java, static fields (also known as
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When a child process is created, it inherits all the environment variables and their values from the parent process. Usually, when a program calls another program, it first creates a child process by
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superglobal, which contains all the variables defined out of function scope. Changes to its elements change the original variables, and additions create new variables. The superglobals
172:, though global variables are often available by declaring a variable at the top level of the program. In other languages, however, global variables do not exist; these are generally 317:
itself with the program to be called. Child processes therefore cannot use environment variables to communicate with their peers, avoiding the action at a distance problem.
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file) (unless shadowed by a like-named object in a nearer scope, such as a local variable); and they implicitly have external linkage and are thus visible to not only the
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As the variable is an external one, there is no need to pass it as a parameter to use it in a function besides main. It belongs to every function in the module.
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In some languages, all variables are global, or global by default, while in most modern languages variables have limited scope, generally
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variable accessible to all modules in a project. Where this global access mechanism is judged problematic, it can be disabled using the
286:) they are a kind of variable: for instance, in unix and related systems an ordinary variable becomes an environment variable when the 108: 42: 89: 371: 46: 61: 893: 915: 343: 68: 951: 907: 347: 35: 75: 434: 165:), global variables are generally dynamically allocated when declared, since they are not known ahead of time. 162: 177: 57: 326: 154: 243: 223:
though some problems may persist without proper encapsulation. Without proper locking (such as with a
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declarations are often placed in a shared header file, since it is common practice for all
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which restricts a variable to file scope, and will cause attempts to import it with
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somewhat like structured namespaces. Variables are also global by default in
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are always accessible. They are all arrays. A general purpose one is the
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Computer programming, a variable accessible throughout a computer program
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keyword is used. Program code other than shells has to access them by
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This is accomplished by declaring the variable in each file using the
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C in a Nutshell, P.Prinz & T Crawford, 2006, O'Reilly, Ch 11
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Interaction mechanisms with global variables are called
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a global variable can be declared anywhere with the
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The set of all global variables is known as the 176:languages that enforce a module structure, or 867:However, some predefined variables, known as 8: 910:'s global variables are distinguished by a ' 430:to raise a compilation (or linking) error. 407:files in a project to include at least one 227:), code using global variables will not be 109:Learn how and when to remove this message 646:// Reference to the file-scope variable. 568:// file-scope variable of the same name. 998:"First Steps: Stack & Heap Objects" 975: 329:languages, such as (early versions of) 433:An example of a "global" variable in 181:object-oriented programming languages 7: 883:are widely used in web programming. 47:adding citations to reliable sources 613:// scope variable of the same name. 203:paradigm, where all variables are 14: 321:Global-only and global-by-default 149:, global variables are generally 246:are a facility provided by some 183:that enforce a class structure. 23: 411:file: the standard header file 367:The C language does not have a 231:except for read only values in 34:needs additional citations for 860:global variables, it does not 1: 1047:"Declare variables as global" 1027:. Python Software Foundation 1079:Variable (computer science) 856:keyword (i.e., the keyword 1095: 415:is an example, making the 129:is a variable with global 487:// Also internal linkage. 451:// this compilation unit. 163:command-line interpreters 804: 439: 395:in each file but may be 984:"Fortran 77 Tutorial" 391:keyword. (It will be 244:Environment variables 239:Environment variables 159:interpreted languages 1053:. The MathWorks, Inc 786:The output will be: 123:computer programming 43:improve this article 399:in only one.) Such 354:, and most shells. 174:modular programming 942:Non-local variable 250:. Within the OS's 193:global environment 147:compiled languages 139:global environment 962:External variable 947:Singleton pattern 248:operating systems 201:local environment 119: 118: 111: 93: 58:"Global variable" 1086: 1063: 1062: 1060: 1058: 1051:in.mathworks.com 1043: 1037: 1036: 1034: 1032: 1017: 1011: 1008: 1002: 1001: 994: 988: 987: 980: 921: 913: 903: 882: 878: 874: 855: 850: 835: 832: 829: 826: 823: 820: 817: 814: 811: 808: 779: 776: 773: 770: 767: 764: 761: 758: 755: 752: 749: 746: 743: 740: 737: 734: 731: 728: 725: 722: 719: 716: 713: 710: 707: 704: 701: 698: 695: 692: 689: 686: 683: 680: 677: 674: 671: 668: 665: 662: 659: 656: 653: 650: 647: 644: 641: 638: 635: 632: 629: 626: 623: 620: 617: 614: 611: 608: 605: 602: 599: 596: 593: 590: 587: 584: 581: 578: 575: 572: 569: 566: 563: 560: 557: 554: 551: 548: 545: 542: 539: 536: 533: 530: 527: 524: 521: 518: 515: 512: 509: 506: 503: 500: 497: 494: 491: 488: 485: 482: 479: 476: 473: 470: 467: 464: 461: 458: 455: 452: 449: 446: 443: 429: 423: 418: 414: 410: 406: 402: 390: 384:compilation unit 381: 377: 370: 325:A number of non- 301: 297: 289: 233:protected memory 151:static variables 114: 107: 103: 100: 94: 92: 51: 27: 19: 1094: 1093: 1089: 1088: 1087: 1085: 1084: 1083: 1069: 1068: 1067: 1066: 1056: 1054: 1045: 1044: 1040: 1030: 1028: 1025:docs.python.org 1019: 1018: 1014: 1009: 1005: 996: 995: 991: 982: 981: 977: 972: 957:Static variable 933: 922:is the current 919: 911: 901: 889: 887:Other languages 880: 876: 872: 853: 848: 842: 837: 836: 833: 830: 827: 824: 821: 818: 815: 812: 809: 806: 800:class variables 795: 790: 781: 780: 777: 774: 771: 768: 765: 762: 759: 756: 753: 750: 747: 744: 741: 738: 735: 732: 729: 726: 723: 720: 717: 714: 711: 708: 705: 702: 699: 696: 693: 690: 687: 684: 681: 678: 675: 672: 669: 666: 663: 660: 657: 654: 651: 648: 645: 642: 639: 636: 633: 630: 627: 624: 621: 618: 615: 612: 609: 606: 603: 600: 597: 594: 591: 588: 585: 582: 579: 576: 573: 570: 567: 564: 561: 558: 555: 552: 549: 546: 543: 540: 537: 534: 531: 528: 525: 522: 519: 516: 513: 510: 507: 504: 501: 498: 495: 493:over_shared_too 492: 489: 486: 483: 480: 477: 474: 471: 468: 465: 462: 459: 456: 453: 450: 447: 445:<stdio.h> 444: 441: 427: 421: 416: 412: 408: 404: 400: 388: 379: 375: 368: 365: 360: 323: 299: 295: 294:calls, such as 287: 241: 213:message passing 189: 127:global variable 115: 104: 98: 95: 52: 50: 40: 28: 17: 12: 11: 5: 1092: 1090: 1082: 1081: 1071: 1070: 1065: 1064: 1038: 1012: 1003: 989: 974: 973: 971: 968: 967: 966: 965: 964: 959: 949: 944: 939: 937:Local variable 932: 929: 928: 927: 905: 888: 885: 841: 838: 805: 794: 791: 788: 440: 364: 361: 359: 356: 322: 319: 240: 237: 188: 185: 117: 116: 31: 29: 22: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1091: 1080: 1077: 1076: 1074: 1052: 1048: 1042: 1039: 1026: 1022: 1016: 1013: 1007: 1004: 999: 993: 990: 985: 979: 976: 969: 963: 960: 958: 955: 954: 953: 950: 948: 945: 943: 940: 938: 935: 934: 930: 925: 917: 909: 906: 899: 895: 891: 890: 886: 884: 870: 865: 863: 859: 846: 839: 803: 801: 792: 787: 784: 438: 436: 431: 425: 398: 394: 385: 373: 362: 357: 355: 353: 349: 345: 340: 336: 332: 328: 320: 318: 316: 312: 307: 303: 293: 285: 281: 277: 273: 269: 265: 261: 257: 253: 249: 245: 238: 236: 234: 230: 226: 222: 216: 214: 210: 209:shared memory 206: 202: 198: 194: 186: 184: 182: 179: 175: 171: 170:lexical scope 166: 164: 160: 156: 152: 148: 144: 143:global state. 140: 136: 132: 128: 124: 113: 110: 102: 91: 88: 84: 81: 77: 74: 70: 67: 63: 60: –  59: 55: 54:Find sources: 48: 44: 38: 37: 32:This article 30: 26: 21: 20: 1055:. Retrieved 1050: 1041: 1029:. 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Index


verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
"Global variable"
news
newspapers
books
scholar
JSTOR
Learn how and when to remove this message
computer programming
scope
shadowed
compiled languages
static variables
extent
interpreted languages
command-line interpreters
lexical scope
modular programming
class-based
object-oriented programming languages
local environment
local
shared memory
message passing
namespace
mutex
thread-safe

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