Keep function state between calls.

C: A static local variable retains its stored value for the lifetime of the process.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <limits.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <time.h>

static unsigned int next_id(void) { static unsigned int value=0; return ++value; }
int main(void) {
    printf("%u\n",next_id());
    printf("%u\n",next_id());
    return 0;
}

Expected output EXAMPLE

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Details

Save as snippet.c; compile with gcc -std=c17 -Wall -Wextra snippet.c -lm -o snippet, then run ./snippet. A static local variable retains its stored value for the lifetime of the process.

Keep in mind

This unsynchronized counter is for single-threaded use and eventually wraps.

✓ Verified

Tested on Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS · 2026-11-02 18:02:35 UTC · gcc (Ubuntu 13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04.1) 13.3.0 · gcc 4:13.2.0-7ubuntu1

Test inputs, results and environment

The exact published code ran in a dedicated Linux test container with prepared inputs. Unprivileged snippet process, external networking disabled, read-only root filesystem, and a fresh temporary working directory. Fixtures and output records are isolated from the application database. Testing covers this example and its stated checks, not every input, operating system, or runtime version. The Linux container shares its host's kernel; this is not a native Windows test.

Architecture / host kernel: x86_64 / 6.18.54.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
Snippet identity / locale: uid=65534, gid=65534 (unprivileged) / C.UTF-8
Interpreter invocation: gcc -std=c17 -Wall -Wextra -Werror snippet.c -lm -o snippet && ./snippet
Container image ID: sha256:32dc2d998158b6554c99b73b533f423696a0f3e31e8cbea9db10b5eee9a2fadd
Code SHA-256: 0ff40e0487b10aa158c00c1e394f72672ed2422af3933a2076272b1c13e06a50
Dependencies: gcc 4:13.2.0-7ubuntu1

Test input setup

These are the prepared inputs used by the test harness. See Details above for the prerequisites and how to run this example.

# No input files required.

Observed standard output

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Exit code: 0. Standard error: empty. Validation: Exact stdout comparison. System-dependent values above are one recorded run.