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I have int a[] in one C file. Now in another .c file I have extern int *a .

I need to know what will be the behavior if I try to access variable a in second file and why? What all problems would occur?

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  • Sorry that was a typo.actually both have same name 'a' Commented Jun 1, 2013 at 15:20

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Undefined behaviour. So anything might happen.

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5 Comments

could you please elaborate a bit as to why undefined behavior?
@vaibhavshukla: Because the standard says it is. (See section 6.2.7 of C99.) On a more practical level, see some of the answers here: stackoverflow.com/questions/6385850/….
What if I include first file in second? What will be outcome? Linking error or compiler error?
@vaibhavshukla: You could try it... ;)
:) I definitely will. But still want to be shown some more light to the concept before coming to conclusion.
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If you include the file(declaration) twice or declared variable named a, then there may be error redefinition of a;

when i tried the above compiler shows error : 

conflicting types for a;
//previous definition in other file...
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@dinesh: I dnt think so bcoz extern keyword says that its a declaration not definition or say when we say extern, it means somewhere in other file variable has been define, so how come redefinition error?

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