return Statement in Program Termination (C++)
The latest version of this topic can be found at return Statement in Program Termination (C++).
Issuing a return
statement from main is functionally equivalent to calling the exit function. Consider the following example:
// return_statement.cpp
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
exit( 3 );
return 3;
}
The exit and return
statements in the preceding example are functionally identical. However, C++ requires that functions that have return types other than void
return a value. The return
statement allows you to return a value from main.