Question

I have some doubt on below code

  #include<stdio.h>
   int i=6;
    int main()
     {
      int i=4;
      {
       extern int i;
       printf("%d",i); //prints 6
      }
      printf("%d",i); //prints 4
     }

we know that extern keyword says compiler, the variable is somewhere outside. So the question is why the extern keyword is accessing the global i variable but not the i variable which is within the main function? I was thinking there must be a contradiction because both variables are available to the inner braces as global variable. So does extern keyword access the variable which is outside the function or does it also access the variable which is outside the braces.

Answer 1

extern doesn’t mean outside the current scope, it means an object with external linkage. An automatic variable never has external linkage, so your declaration extern int i can’t possibly refer to that. Hence it’s hiding it, the same as the automatic variable hid the global.