small functions defined in header files: inline or static?

c static inline header-files
eudoxos picture eudoxos · Feb 24, 2012 · Viewed 33.3k times · Source

I have a number of small functions which are defined in a .h file. It is a small project (now) and I want to avoid the pain of having declarations and definitions separate, because they change all the time. To avoid multiply-defined symbols, I can either have them static or inline. What should be preferred and why?

I know it is in general bad practice to define functions in headers. You don't have to mention that in answers, this question is meant technically.

Answer

Christoph picture Christoph · Feb 24, 2012

I'd use static inline, but static would work just as well.

extern and extern inline are out because you'd get multiple external definitions if the header is included in more than one translation unit, so you need to consider static, static inline and inline specification.

Heptic correctly states in his answer that most compilers consider functions for inlining regardless of whether inline is specified or not, ie the main impact of inline is its effect on linkage.

However, static definitions have internal linkage, so there's not much difference between static and static inline; I prefer static inline for function definitions in header files for purely stylistic reasons (rule of thumb: header files should only contain extern declarations, static const variable definitions and static inline function definitions).

inline without static or extern results in an inline definition, which the standard states (C99 6.7.4, §6)

provides an alternative to an external definition, which a translator may use to implement any call to the function in the same translation unit. It is unspecified whether a call to the function uses the inline definition or the external definition.

ie inline definitions should always be accompanied by external definitions, which is not what you're looking for.

Some more information about the subtleties of C99 inline semantics can be found in this answer, on the Clang homepage and the C99 Rationale (PDF).

Keep in mind that GCC will only use C99 semantics if -std=c99 or -std=gnu99 is present...

Related questions

What's the difference between static inline void and void?

I'm working in the C language and modifying code previously written by someone else. I'm struggling with a few things and I'm trying to understand as much as I can about what is going on as I can. So, as …

Read More
What does "static" mean in C?

I've seen the word static used in different places in C code; is this like a static function/class in C# (where the implementation is shared across objects)?

Read More
What is a "static" function in C?

The question was about plain c functions, not c++ static methods, as clarified in comments. I understand what a static variable is, but what is a static function? And why is it that if I declare a function, let's say …

Read More