title: Global variables for Nodes
body: <p>I'm trying to create a simple program to insert words into a <code>Linked List</code>, yet I'm having a very hard time with understanding the global pointers that represent the <code>head</code> and <code>next</code> <code>Nodes</code>. </p>
  
  <p>From what I understand, if I were to have a <code>struct</code> such as:</p>
  
  <pre><code>typedef struct NODE
  {
      char *item;
      struct Node *next; 
  
  } Node, *Node_ptr;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Then I could create global variables simply by declaring them underneath the <code>typedef</code>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>struct Node_ptr* head = NULL; 
  struct Node_ptr* next = NULL;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But do I assign them to <code>NULL</code> immediately? Or do that in a method such as <code>main</code>? Also, do I have to have the <code>struct</code> in front of it?</p>