Where are static variables stored in C and C++?

Question

In what segment (.BSS, .DATA, other) of an executable file are static variables stored so that they don't have name collision? For example:

foo.c:                         bar.c:
static int foo = 1;            static int foo = 10;
void fooTest() {               void barTest() {
  static int bar = 2;            static int bar = 20;
  foo++;                         foo++;
  bar++;                         bar++;
  printf("%d,%d", foo, bar);     printf("%d, %d", foo, bar);
}                              }

If I compile both files and link it to a main that calls fooTest() and barTest repeatedly, the printf statements increment independently. Makes sense since the foo and bar variables are local to the translation unit.

But where is the storage allocated?

To be clear, the assumption is that you have a toolchain that would output a file in ELF format. Thus, I believe that there has to be some space reserved in the executable file for those static variables.
For discussion purposes, lets assume we use the GCC toolchain.

Answer 1

How to find it yourself with objdump -Sr

To actually understand what is going on, you must understand linker relocation. If you've never touched that, consider reading this post first.

Let's analyze a Linux x86-64 ELF example to see it ourselves:

#include <stdio.h>

int f() {
    static int i = 1;
    i++;
    return i;
}

int main() {
    printf("%d\n", f());
    printf("%d\n", f());
    return 0;
}

Compile with:

gcc -ggdb -c main.c

Decompile the code with:

objdump -Sr main.o

• -S decompiles the code with the original source intermingled
• -r shows relocation information

Inside the decompilation of f we see:

 static int i = 1;
 i++;
4:  8b 05 00 00 00 00       mov    0x0(%rip),%eax        # a <f+0xa>
        6: R_X86_64_PC32    .data-0x4

and the .data-0x4 says that it will go to the first byte of the .data segment.

The -0x4 is there because we are using RIP relative addressing, thus the %rip in the instruction and R_X86_64_PC32.

It is required because RIP points to the following instruction, which starts 4 bytes after 00 00 00 00 which is what will get relocated. I have explained this in more detail at: https://stackoverflow.com/a/30515926/895245

Then, if we modify the source to i = 1 and do the same analysis, we conclude that:

• static int i = 0 goes on .bss
• static int i = 1 goes on .data

Answer 2

in the "global and static" area :)

there are several memory area in C++

• heap
• free store
• stack
• global & static
• const

see here for detailed answer to your question

Answer 3

This is how (easy to understand):

Answer 4

Well this question is bit too old, but since nobody points out any useful information: Check the post by 'mohit12379' explaining the store of static variables with same name in the symbol table: http://www.geekinterview.com/question_details/24745