Automatic storage means that memory is allocated by the compiler at precisely the point when a literal value, variable, array, or structure is declared. A less obvious but well-defined point is when a formal parameter to a function is declared. That memory is automatically deallocated at specific and other well-known points within the program.
In all cases except literal values, when this storage class is allocated, it is given a name—its variable name—along with its data type. Even a pointer to another, already allocated memory location is given a name. When that memory is an element of an array, it is the array name and its offset in the array.
