main() always returns int?

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What should main() return in C/C++?
why do we give int main in c++ and not void main?

I've started learning C++ and the following question came up to my mind: main() always return int? Cannot I declare void main() instead of int main()?

Thanks you!

The main function *in the global namespace* must return an `int`, as per the Standard. — , Sep 24 '12 at 18:37
This link is worth reading: http://users.aber.ac.uk/auj/voidmain.cgi — Ben Cottrell, Sep 24 '12 at 18:38
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/204476/what-should-main-return-in-c-c — chris, Sep 24 '12 at 18:40

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 24 '12 at 18:38

Yes, main() must return int. The return value is passed back to the operating system, to indicate whether the program ran successfully: zero means success.

However, you can leave the return statement out of main (and only main) if you like; in that case, it will return zero.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 24 '12 at 18:39

1

It has to return an integer value. The returned value tells the computer what, if any, error codes there were. Returning 0 will tell it that there were no errors in the program.

answered Sep 24 '12 at 18:39

Corey Adler

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main() always returns int?

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