Static storage class - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Understanding Static Storage Class in C

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are writing a small program to count how many times a function is called. You want to keep this count inside the function itself, so it remembers the count between calls but is not visible outside the function.

🎯 Goal: You will create a function that uses a static variable to count how many times it has been called, then print the count each time the function runs.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a function called call_counter.

Inside call_counter, declare a static int variable named count initialized to 0.

Each time call_counter is called, increase count by 1.

Print the current value of count inside call_counter.

Call call_counter three times from main.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Static variables are useful when you want to keep track of information inside a function without exposing it outside. For example, counting events, caching results, or managing state in embedded systems.

💼 Career

Understanding static storage class is important for C programmers working on embedded systems, system programming, or performance-critical applications where controlling variable lifetime and visibility is crucial.

1

Create the call_counter function with a static variable

Write a function called call_counter that declares a static int count variable initialized to 0.

C

// Define the call_counter function
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Remember, static variables inside functions keep their value between calls.

2

Increase the static variable count by 1 inside call_counter

Inside the call_counter function, add code to increase the count variable by 1.

C

void call_counter() {
    static int count = 0;
    // Increase count by 1
    // Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Use count++ to add one to the count.

3

Print the current value of count inside call_counter

Add a printf statement inside call_counter to print the message: "Function called %d times\n" using the count variable.

C

void call_counter() {
    static int count = 0;
    count++;
    // Print the count
    // Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Use printf to show the count value with the message.

4

Call call_counter three times from main and print output

Write the main function that calls call_counter three times.

C

#include 

void call_counter() {
    static int count = 0;
    count++;
    printf("Function called %d times\n", count);
}

int main() {
    // Call call_counter three times
    // Your code here
    return 0;
}

Need a hint?

Call the function three times in main to see the count increase.