http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=46770
--- Comment #31 from H.J. Lu <hjl.tools at gmail dot com> 2010-12-11 22:56:35 UTC --- Just to make it clear. We support --- `init_priority (PRIORITY)' In Standard C++, objects defined at namespace scope are guaranteed to be initialized in an order in strict accordance with that of their definitions _in a given translation unit_. No guarantee is made for initializations across translation units. However, GNU C++ allows users to control the order of initialization of objects defined at namespace scope with the `init_priority' attribute by specifying a relative PRIORITY, a constant integral expression currently bounded between 101 and 65535 inclusive. Lower numbers indicate a higher priority. In the following example, `A' would normally be created before `B', but the `init_priority' attribute has reversed that order: Some_Class A __attribute__ ((init_priority (2000))); Some_Class B __attribute__ ((init_priority (543))); Note that the particular values of PRIORITY do not matter; only their relative ordering. --- It works at source code level. I don't believe we ever support "interleaving constructor priorities" between object files, with .ctors or .init_array.