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diff --git a/docs/control-structures.rst b/docs/control-structures.rst
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@@ -147,6 +147,57 @@ Scoping and Declarations
.. index:: ! scoping, ! declarations
+In Solidity, a variable declared anywhere within a function will be in scope for the *entire function*, regardless of where it is declared.
+This is in contrast to many languages where variables are only scoped where they are declared until the end of the semantic block.
+As a result, the following code is illegal and cause the compiler to throw an error, `Identifier already declared.`::
+
+ contract ScopingErrors {
+ function scoping() {
+ uint i = 0;
+
+ while (i++ < 1) {
+ uint same1 = 0;
+ }
+
+ while (i++ < 2) {
+ uint same1 = 0;// Illegal, second declaration of same1
+ }
+ }
+
+ function minimalScoping() {
+ {
+ uint same2 = 0;
+ }
+
+ {
+ uint same2 = 0;// Illegal, second declaration of same2
+ }
+ }
+
+ function forLoopScoping() {
+ for (uint same3 = 0; same3 < 1; same3++) {
+ }
+
+ for (uint same3 = 0; same3 < 1; same3++) {// Illegal, second declaration of same3
+ }
+ }
+ }
+
+In addition to this, if a variable is declared, it will be initialized at the beginning of the function to its default value.
+As a result, the following code is legal, despite being poorly written.::
+
+ function foo() returns (uint) {
+ uint bar = 5;
+ // baz is implicitly initialized as 0
+ if (true) {
+ bar += baz;
+ }
+ else {
+ uint baz = 10;// never executes
+ }
+ return bar;// returns 5
+ }
+
Exceptions
==========