|page=121}}</ref> Variables placed in the stack, ironically, are populated from top to bottom.<ref name="lpi-ch6-p121"/> A [[Call stack#STACK-POINTER|stack pointer]] is a special-purpose [[processor register|register]] that keeps track of the last memory address populated.<ref name="lpi-ch6-p121"/> Variables are placed into the stack via the ''assembly language'' PUSH instruction. Therefore, the addresses of these variables are set during [[Runtime (program lifecycle phase)|runtime]]. The method for stack variables to lose their [[Scope (computer science)|scope]] is via the POP instruction.
:* ''Local variables'' declared without the <code>static</code> prefix, including formal parameter variables,<ref name="lpi-ch6-p122">{{cite book
