strange code in linux kernel

Hi List,

I found that there are some weird looking instances in kernel where a
function has been DEFINED (as opposite to DECLARED) using and "extern"
keyword. For e.g., the following code in arch/alpha/include/asm/io.h:

extern inline void __iomem *generic_ioportmap(unsigned long a)
{
        return alpha_mv.mv_ioportmap(a);
}

Using a definition along with extern does not make any sense to me.
Can some one please enlighten what is its use / purpose?

Thanks,

Rajat Jain

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