@section Telling the Compiler that a Function is Defined
@cindex function declaration
@cindex declaring functions
+@findex declare-function
Byte-compiling a file often produces warnings about functions that the
compiler doesn't know about (@pxref{Compiler Errors}). Sometimes this
of the primitive functions of Emacs are always defined so they will
never give you a warning.
+ Sometimes a file will optionally use functions from an external package.
+If you prefix the filename in the @code{declare-function} statement with
+@samp{ext:}, then it will be checked if it is found, otherwise skipped
+without error.
+
@node Function Safety
@section Determining whether a Function is Safe to Call
@cindex function safety