Why is main()
a user defined function ?
When will I use void main()
and int main()
?
EDIT This answer is not as complete as it could be since it doesn't really address the strange sentence "or otherwise in some implementation-defined manner". I have now written a more complete answer which also addresses C90, C11 and C++. END OF EDIT
Here is what the C standard says (ISO C 9899:1999):
5.1.2.1 Freestanding environment
In a freestanding environment (in which C program execution may take place without any benefit of an operating system), the name and type of the function called at program startup are implementation-defined. / .. / The effect of program termination in a freestanding environment is implementation-defined.
5.1.2.2 Hosted environment
A hosted environment need not be provided, but shall conform to the following specifications if present.
5.1.2.2.1 Program startup
The function called at program startup is named main. The implementation declares no prototype for this function. It shall be defined with a return type of int and with no parameters:
int main(void) { /* ... */ }
or with two parameters (referred to here as argc and argv, though any names may be used, as they are local to the function in which they are declared):
int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { /* ... */ }
The text in the C++ standard is more or less identical. Please note that "Program startup" in the text is a subclause to hosted environment.
This means:
If your program is running in a hostless environment (your program is an embedded system or an operative system), it may have any return type. void main() is most common.
If your program is running in a hosted environment (on top of an OS), main() must return int, and may have additional parameters.
Lundin is correct about C, but in C++ the wording is sufficiently distinct to make a difference:
[C++11: 3.6.1/1]:
A program shall contain a global function calledmain
, which is the designated start of the program. It is implementation-defined whether a program in a freestanding environment is required to define amain
function.
[C++11: 3.6.1/2]:
An implementation shall not predefine themain
function. This function shall not be overloaded. It shall have a return type of typeint
, but otherwise its type is implementation-defined [..]
The first bolded passage does not override or cancel out the second.
main
returns int
in C++, always.
The return type for main
is determined by the implementation, not the programmer. Check your compiler documentation to see what the legal signatures are for main
. Don't assume that void main()
is one of them. In a hosted environment, main
normally returns int
. In a freestandaing environment, the entry point may not even be named main
, but its return type will still be determined by the implementation, not the programmer.
There are 3 situations:
In 1. there need not be a function named main
at all. The implementation defines how a program starts.
In 2. a program starts executing at a function named main
, defined with one of the following 2 'signatures': int main(void)
or int main(int argc, char **argv)
In 3. a program starts executing at a function named main
, defined as allowed by the implementation. This function must return int
to be Standard conformant. For example: int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
or int main(wchar_t**)
. Note that programs which use these forms are not necessarily valid in all hosted implementations (and may become invalid for the original author if the implementation changes).
Originally, in the C language, there was no such type as void
and therefore the function had to return int
.
In practice, returning int
allows you to run another process from your process (using fork
and exec
) and if you can get the return result from that process you will know whether it worked or not.
main
is different in that the set of choices is narrower. – Keith Thompson