diff --git a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen.cc b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen.cc
index b9ec63b7..b9a29d0b 100644
--- a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen.cc
+++ b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen.cc
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <cxx/mlir/codegen.h>
 
 // cxx
+#include <cxx/ast_interpreter.h>
 #include <cxx/control.h>
 #include <cxx/external_name_encoder.h>
 #include <cxx/symbols.h>
@@ -79,6 +80,9 @@ auto Codegen::findOrCreateLocal(Symbol* symbol) -> std::optional<mlir::Value> {
   auto var = symbol_cast<VariableSymbol>(symbol);
   if (!var) return std::nullopt;
 
+  if (var->isStatic()) return std::nullopt;
+  if (!var->parent()->isBlock()) return std::nullopt;
+
   auto type = convertType(var->type());
   auto ptrType = builder_.getType<mlir::cxx::PointerType>(type);
 
@@ -172,6 +176,73 @@ auto Codegen::findOrCreateFunction(FunctionSymbol* functionSymbol)
   return func;
 }
 
+auto Codegen::findOrCreateGlobal(VariableSymbol* variableSymbol)
+    -> mlir::cxx::GlobalOp {
+  if (auto it = globalOps_.find(variableSymbol); it != globalOps_.end()) {
+    return it->second;
+  }
+
+  auto varType = convertType(variableSymbol->type());
+
+  const auto loc = getLocation(variableSymbol->location());
+
+  auto guard = mlir::OpBuilder::InsertionGuard(builder_);
+
+  builder_.setInsertionPointToStart(module_.getBody());
+
+  mlir::cxx::InlineKind inlineKind = mlir::cxx::InlineKind::NoInline;
+
+  mlir::cxx::LinkageKind linkageKind = mlir::cxx::LinkageKind::External;
+
+  if (variableSymbol->isStatic()) {
+    linkageKind = mlir::cxx::LinkageKind::Internal;
+  }
+
+  auto linkageAttr =
+      mlir::cxx::LinkageKindAttr::get(builder_.getContext(), linkageKind);
+
+  std::string name;
+
+  name = to_string(variableSymbol->name());
+
+  llvm::SmallVector<mlir::Type> resultTypes;
+  resultTypes.push_back(varType);
+
+  mlir::Attribute initializer;
+
+  auto value = variableSymbol->constValue();
+
+  if (value.has_value()) {
+    auto interp = ASTInterpreter{unit_};
+
+    if (control()->is_integral_or_unscoped_enum(variableSymbol->type())) {
+      auto constValue = interp.toInt(*value);
+      initializer = builder_.getI64IntegerAttr(constValue.value_or(0));
+    } else if (control()->is_floating_point(variableSymbol->type())) {
+      auto ty = control()->remove_cv(variableSymbol->type());
+      if (type_cast<FloatType>(ty)) {
+        auto constValue = interp.toFloat(*value);
+        initializer = builder_.getF32FloatAttr(constValue.value_or(0));
+      } else if (type_cast<DoubleType>(ty)) {
+        auto constValue = interp.toDouble(*value);
+        initializer = builder_.getF64FloatAttr(constValue.value_or(0));
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (!initializer) {
+    // default initialize to zero
+    initializer = builder_.getZeroAttr(varType);
+  }
+
+  auto var = mlir::cxx::GlobalOp::create(builder_, loc, varType, false, name,
+                                         initializer);
+
+  globalOps_.insert_or_assign(variableSymbol, var);
+
+  return var;
+}
+
 auto Codegen::getLocation(SourceLocation location) -> mlir::Location {
   auto [filename, line, column] = unit_->tokenStartPosition(location);
 
diff --git a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen.h b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen.h
index e68f2d2f..5ccbfb36 100644
--- a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen.h
+++ b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen.h
@@ -262,6 +262,9 @@ class Codegen {
   [[nodiscard]] auto findOrCreateFunction(FunctionSymbol* functionSymbol)
       -> mlir::cxx::FuncOp;
 
+  [[nodiscard]] auto findOrCreateGlobal(VariableSymbol* var)
+      -> mlir::cxx::GlobalOp;
+
   [[nodiscard]] auto newTemp(const Type* type, SourceLocation loc)
       -> mlir::cxx::AllocaOp;
 
@@ -328,6 +331,7 @@ class Codegen {
   std::unordered_map<ClassSymbol*, mlir::Type> classNames_;
   std::unordered_map<Symbol*, mlir::Value> locals_;
   std::unordered_map<FunctionSymbol*, mlir::cxx::FuncOp> funcOps_;
+  std::unordered_map<VariableSymbol*, mlir::cxx::GlobalOp> globalOps_;
   std::unordered_map<std::string_view, int> uniqueSymbolNames_;
   std::unordered_map<const StringLiteral*, mlir::StringAttr> stringLiterals_;
   Loop loop_;
diff --git a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_declarations.cc b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_declarations.cc
index b092ba63..d8a8d303 100644
--- a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_declarations.cc
+++ b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_declarations.cc
@@ -182,6 +182,20 @@ auto Codegen::DeclarationVisitor::operator()(SimpleDeclarationAST* ast)
     -> DeclarationResult {
   if (!gen.function_) {
     // skip for now, as we only look for local variable declarations
+
+    for (auto node : ListView{ast->initDeclaratorList}) {
+      auto var = symbol_cast<VariableSymbol>(node->symbol);
+      if (!var) continue;
+
+      auto glo = gen.findOrCreateGlobal(var);
+      if (!glo) {
+        gen.unit_->error(node->initializer->firstSourceLocation(),
+                         std::format("cannot create global variable '{}'",
+                                     to_string(var->name())));
+        continue;
+      }
+    }
+
     return {};
   }
 
diff --git a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_expressions.cc b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_expressions.cc
index 484181da..b6a15c02 100644
--- a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_expressions.cc
+++ b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_expressions.cc
@@ -376,6 +376,23 @@ auto Codegen::ExpressionVisitor::operator()(IdExpressionAST* ast)
     }
   }
 
+  if (auto var = symbol_cast<VariableSymbol>(ast->symbol)) {
+    if (auto it = gen.globalOps_.find(var); it != gen.globalOps_.end()) {
+      auto loc = gen.getLocation(ast->firstSourceLocation());
+
+      auto ptrToVoidType = mlir::cxx::PointerType::get(
+          gen.builder_.getContext(), gen.convertType(var->type()));
+
+      auto resultType =
+          mlir::cxx::PointerType::get(gen.builder_.getContext(), ptrToVoidType);
+
+      auto op = mlir::cxx::AddressOfOp::create(gen.builder_, loc, resultType,
+                                               it->second.getSymName());
+
+      return {op};
+    }
+  }
+
   auto op =
       gen.emitTodoExpr(ast->firstSourceLocation(), to_string(ast->kind()));
 
@@ -694,9 +711,7 @@ auto Codegen::ExpressionVisitor::operator()(PostIncrExpressionAST* ast)
 
   if (control()->is_integral_or_unscoped_enum(ast->baseExpression->type)) {
     auto loc = gen.getLocation(ast->firstSourceLocation());
-    auto ptrTy =
-        mlir::cast<mlir::cxx::PointerType>(expressionResult.value.getType());
-    auto elementTy = ptrTy.getElementType();
+    auto elementTy = gen.convertType(ast->baseExpression->type);
     auto loadOp = mlir::cxx::LoadOp::create(gen.builder_, loc, elementTy,
                                             expressionResult.value);
     auto resultTy = gen.convertType(ast->baseExpression->type);
@@ -944,8 +959,6 @@ auto Codegen::ExpressionVisitor::operator()(UnaryExpressionAST* ast)
       }
 
       if (control()->is_floating_point(ast->type)) {
-        resultType.dump();
-
         mlir::FloatAttr value;
         switch (ast->type->kind()) {
           case TypeKind::kFloat:
diff --git a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_units.cc b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_units.cc
index c3488312..5de5bb6d 100644
--- a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_units.cc
+++ b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/codegen_units.cc
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ struct Codegen::UnitVisitor {
 
     void operator()(NamespaceSymbol* symbol) {
       for (auto member : views::members(symbol)) {
+        if (auto var = symbol_cast<VariableSymbol>(member)) {
+          p.gen.findOrCreateGlobal(var);
+          continue;
+        }
+
         visit(*this, member);
       }
     }
diff --git a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/cxx_dialect_conversions.cc b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/cxx_dialect_conversions.cc
index a74753fe..e2d4e899 100644
--- a/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/cxx_dialect_conversions.cc
+++ b/src/mlir/cxx/mlir/cxx_dialect_conversions.cc
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ class GlobalOpLowering : public OpConversionPattern<cxx::GlobalOp> {
 
     rewriter.replaceOpWithNewOp<LLVM::GlobalOp>(
         op, elementType, op.getConstant(), LLVM::linkage::Linkage::Private,
-        op.getSymName(), adaptor.getValue().value());
+        op.getSymName(), adaptor.getValueAttr());
 
     return success();
   }
diff --git a/src/parser/cxx/lexer.cc b/src/parser/cxx/lexer.cc
index f09d9b2b..cefaf7ad 100644
--- a/src/parser/cxx/lexer.cc
+++ b/src/parser/cxx/lexer.cc
@@ -159,6 +159,10 @@ auto Lexer::readToken() -> TokenKind {
           (LA(1) == '+' || LA(1) == '-')) {
         consume(2);
         integer_literal = false;
+      } else if (pos_ + 1 < end_ && (ch == 'e' || ch == 'E') &&
+                 std::isdigit(LA(1))) {
+        consume(1);
+        integer_literal = false;
       } else if (pos_ + 1 < end_ && ch == '\'' && is_idcont(LA(1))) {
         consume();
       } else if (is_idcont(ch)) {
diff --git a/src/parser/cxx/parser.cc b/src/parser/cxx/parser.cc
index 1b910c38..e6e936d7 100644
--- a/src/parser/cxx/parser.cc
+++ b/src/parser/cxx/parser.cc
@@ -5659,17 +5659,12 @@ auto Parser::parse_init_declarator(InitDeclaratorAST*& yyast,
                                 control()->remove_cv(var->type()));
     }
 
-    if (var->isConstexpr()) {
-      if (!var->initializer()) {
-        parse_error(var->location(), "constexpr variable must be initialized");
-      } else {
-        var->setConstValue(evaluate_constant_expression(var->initializer()));
+    if (var->initializer()) {
+      var->setConstValue(evaluate_constant_expression(var->initializer()));
+    }
 
-        if (!var->constValue().has_value()) {
-          type_error(var->location(),
-                     "initializer of constexpr variable is not a constant");
-        }
-      }
+    if (var->isConstexpr() && !var->constValue().has_value()) {
+      parse_error(var->location(), "constexpr variable must be initialized");
     }
   }