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    CWG Issue 563</TITLE>
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<P><EM>This is an unofficial snapshot of the ISO/IEC JTC1 SC22 WG21
  Core Issues List revision 118b.
  See http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/ for the official
  list.</EM></P>
<P>2025-09-28</P>
<HR>
<A NAME="563"></A><H4>563.
  
Linkage specification for objects
</H4>
<B>Section: </B>9.12&#160; [<A href="https://wg21.link/dcl.link">dcl.link</A>]
 &#160;&#160;&#160;

 <B>Status: </B>CD6
 &#160;&#160;&#160;

 <B>Submitter: </B>Daveed Vandevoorde
 &#160;&#160;&#160;

 <B>Date: </B>8 March 2006<BR>


<P>[Accepted at the November, 2020 meeting as part of paper P1787R6 and
moved to DR at the February, 2021 meeting.]</P>

<P>It is not clear whether some of the wording in 9.12 [<A href="https://wg21.link/dcl.link">dcl.link</A>]
that applies only to function types and names ought also to apply to
object names.  In particular, paragraph 3 says,</P>

<BLOCKQUOTE>

Every implementation shall provide for linkage to functions written in
the C programming language, <TT>"C"</TT>, and linkage to C++
functions, <TT>"C++"</TT>.

</BLOCKQUOTE>

<P>Nothing is said about variable names, apparently meaning that
implementations need not provide C (or even C++!) linkage for
variable names.  Also, paragraph 5 says,</P>

<BLOCKQUOTE>

Except for functions with C++ linkage, a function declaration without
a linkage specification shall not precede the first linkage
specification for that function. A function can be declared without a
linkage specification after an explicit linkage specification has been
seen; the linkage explicitly specified in the earlier declaration is
not affected by such a function declaration.

</BLOCKQUOTE>

<P>There doesn't seem to be a good reason for these provisions not
to apply to variable names, as well.</P>

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