What is the difference between a definition and a declaration?

Question

The meaning of both eludes me.

Answer 1

A declaration introduces an identifier and describes its type, be it a type, object, or function. A declaration is what the compiler needs to accept references to that identifier. These are declarations:

extern int bar; extern int g(int, int); double f(int, double); // extern can be omitted for function declarations class foo; // no extern allowed for type declarations 

A definition actually instantiates/implements this identifier. It's what the linker needs in order to link references to those entities. These are definitions corresponding to the above declarations:

int bar; int g(int lhs, int rhs) {return lhs*rhs;} double f(int i, double d) {return i+d;} class foo {}; 

A definition can be used in the place of a declaration.

An identifier can be declared as often as you want. Thus, the following is legal in C and C++:

double f(int, double); double f(int, double); extern double f(int, double); // the same as the two above extern double f(int, double); 

However, it must be defined exactly once. If you forget to define something that's been declared and referenced somewhere, then the linker doesn't know what to link references to and complains about a missing symbols. If you define something more than once, then the linker doesn't know which of the definitions to link references to and complains about duplicated symbols.

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Since the debate what is a class declaration vs. a class definition in C++ keeps coming up (in answers and comments to other questions) , I'll paste a quote from the C++ standard here.
At 3.1/2, C++03 says:

A declaration is a definition unless it [...] is a class name declaration [...].

3.1/3 then gives a few examples. Amongst them:

 [Example: [...] struct S { int a; int b; }; // defines S, S::a, and S::b [...] struct S; // declares S —end example 

To sum it up: The C++ standard considers struct x; to be a declaration and struct x {}; a definition. (In other words, "forward declaration" a misnomer, since there are no other forms of class declarations in C++.)

Thanks to litb (Johannes Schaub) who dug out the actual chapter and verse in one of his answers.