.comm symbol , length

.comm declares a named common area in the bss section. Normally ld reserves memory addresses for it during linking, so no partial program defines the location of the symbol. Use .comm to tell ld that it must be at least length bytes long. ld allocates space for each .comm symbol that is at least as long as the longest .comm request in any of the partial programs linked. length is an absolute expression.

The syntax for .comm differs slightly on the HPPA. The syntax is `symbol .comm, length'; symbol is optional.