That's not actually true in this case. The author is correct about this. When "int i = 10;" is encountered, the tentative definition behaves effectively as a d

That's not actually true in this case. The author is correct about this. When "int i = 10;" is encountered, the tentative definition behaves effectively as a declaration. If the compiler were to reach the end of the translation unit and the variable i was never defined elsewhere, however, "int i;" serves as a definition.