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As per the current standard and cppreference these two are the correct way to define the main() function. I know what the parameters mean in either definition, and am not seeking clarifications on that aspect. What I'd like to understand is:

  1. When to use int main (void) v/s int main (int argc, char *argv[]).
  2. Hypothetically, when the program doesn't expect command-line arguments, is there any difference to the compiler (let's say gcc and clang) at all?
  3. (Just for the sake of writing self-documenting code) should I use int main (void) when the program doesn't expect command line arguments and int main (int argc, char *argv[]) when it does?
puwlah
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  • Does this answer your question? [When main is defined without parameters, will argc and argv still be present on the stack?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3144316/when-main-is-defined-without-parameters-will-argc-and-argv-still-be-present-on) – ShadowRanger Mar 03 '21 at 02:08

1 Answers1

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I think you can get a good answer here. Reading this article, my answers to your questions are:

  1. Use int main (int argc, char *argv[]) whenever you need to access the program's arguments;
  2. I do not expect to be any difference to the compiler in both ways, once, in this experiment, both C programs had the same assembly output;
  3. I recommend you to use int main (void) whenever your program does not need to access the arguments. This way, it is clear for other people that your program do not use them. In future, if you need to access the program's arguments, changing the syntax of the main() function is not that hard.
Miguel Carvalho
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