when to declare function variables inside vs. outside of curly brackets

**zolfaghar** · 03-20-2016

I am reading "let us C" book, and going through the exercises at the end of chapter 5. and part H has two exercises, a and c. The answer to one states that the variable should be declared within the brackets of the function and the other states that it should be done outside. I assume it has to do with the scope of the variable. Could someone please elaborate on this? I like to validate my understanding and know all the details that govern when to declare a variable.

**laserlight** · 03-20-2016

Yes, the former is declared in a local scope; the latter is declared at file scope: it would be a global variable unless declared static, in which case it would be restricted to the translation unit (headers + source file). Generally, you should limit the scope of your variables to the smallest scope necessary.

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