Are members of a structure allowed to be static ?
c, structure
Solution
There's simply no such feature in C language. And there's no meaningful conceptual framework for such feature in C.
You see, in C++ terms, there's only one relevant difference between a `static` member variable and an ordinary global variable: the scope in which its name is declared and the corresponding naming syntax. A global variable could be called `a`, while a static member of the class would be called `SomeClass::a`. Besides scoped naming, there are no other differences. (I deliberately ignore other C++-specific features, like access control, since they don't exist in C and this question is really about C.)
In C language a struct type does not introduce its own scope. There's no such naming syntax as `SomeStruct::a` in C language. For this reason there's simply no reason to have static members in structs. You can declare a global variable instead and achieve the same effect. Call your global variable `str_a` to convey the intent to "associate" it with `struct str` and just think of that variable as a pseudo-static member of `struct str`.
Formally speaking, one could do it the same way in C++, i.e. completely ignore this feature of C++ language and use global functions and variables instead of static function and variables inside classes. However, by doing that one would forsake all member access control features of C++. And these features are really worth having. C language has no access control features, meaning that in C one loses [almost] nothing.
Problem
``` #include<stdio.h> struct str { static int a ; int b ; } s ; int main() { static int p , k ; printf("%d %d",sizeof(p),sizeof(s)); getchar(); return 0; } ``` above code is giving errors . But if I redefine the first member of the structure to 'int' rather than 'static int' then it runs fine . Why static members are not allowed in the structure and what is its significance ?