Another class of local variable is the static type. A static can only be acessed from the function in which it was declared, rather like a local variable. The static variable is not destroyed on exit from the function, instead its value is preserved, and becomes available again when the function is next called. Static variables are declared as local variables, but the declaration is preceeded by the word static.
Static variables can be initialised as normal, however this takes place once only when the program starts up, not every time their function is called.