Return type of main() ! !

Question

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Is this possible to return void, float, double, char, pointer type data from main() function?

C++

#include<stdio.h>
double main(){
printf("No may be not!!");
return 0.0;
}

C++

#include<stdio.h>
float main(){
printf("No may be not!!");
return 0.0;
}

C++

#include<stdio.h>
 *main(){
printf("No may be not!!");
int n=9;
int *a;
a=n;
return (&a);
}

C++

#include<stdio.h>
char main(){
printf("No may be not!!");
return '\0';
}

What I have tried:

I want them compiled in codeblock though I got error message. Why? Can't main return anything as above?

Posted 12-Mar-16 18:56pm

Member 12378355we

Updated 13-Mar-16 23:58pm

Frankie-C

v2

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2 solutions

Solution 2

Because main have to return an int.
See ISO/IEC 9899 (C99) and ISO/IEC 9899:201x (C11) at §5.1.2.2.1 Program startup:

Quote:

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[]) { /* ... */ }
or equivalent, or in some other implementation-defined manner.

You can define main with the 2 parameters int argc and char *argv[], or nothing. But the returns, as per all current standards, cannot be void.
Anyway some compilers allow the form void main(void) { /* ... */ } as private extension not standard compliant.

Posted 13-Mar-16 7:00am

Frankie-C

Updated 13-Mar-16 7:14am

v2

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Mehdi Gholam · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-12T19:04:00

Solution 1

main() is a special function and by convention it returns an integer value to the host OS.

Posted 12-Mar-16 19:04pm

Mehdi Gholam

Comments

Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan 13-Mar-16 15:05pm

5ed; — "...host OS or the host framework" should suffice.

Mehdi Gholam 14-Mar-16 1:15am

Cheers Afzaal!