How to implement guide with function scope and static variables in recursive function in c
I need help solving I'm experiencing unexpected behavior with static variables within a recursive function in C. I have a function that counts how many times it has been called, but the count seems incorrect when I run it. Here’s the code snippet: ```c #include <stdio.h> void countCalls() { static int callCount = 0; callCount++; printf("Call count: %d\n", callCount); if (callCount < 5) { countCalls(); } } int main() { countCalls(); return 0; } ``` I expected the output to show the call count incrementing from 1 to 5, but instead, it returns `Call count: 1` all five times before terminating. I’ve added debugging statements, and it seems like the function is being called recursively, but the static variable does not retain its value between calls as I anticipated. I’ve also checked the compiler (GCC version 11.1.0) settings and confirmed that I'm not using any flags that would reset static variables. Is there something about scope or static variables that I’m misunderstanding here? Is the static variable not behaving as intended due to some specific compiler behavior, or is my usage incorrect? I'm on macOS using the latest version of C. Any help would be greatly appreciated!