title: Is it possible to forward declare a static array
body: <p>I need to put a static array into a .cpp file. This array is only used in this .cpp so I want to declare it static. The array definition is quite big, so naturally I want to forward declare it.</p>
  
  <pre><code>static int bigIntArray[5000];
  
  /* other code using bitIntArray */
  
  static int bigIntArray[5000] = {
    0x00, 0x9900, 0xffee,
    ...
  };
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>VC 9.0 gives an error: error C2086: 'int bigIntArray[5000]' : redefinition</p>
  
  <p>If I change 'static' to 'extern', the problem goes away but I do not like this solution.</p>
  
  <p>Why I can not forward declare a static variable? Is this required by the C++ standard?</p>