Thread: A short question!

I just wanna ask that what is the difference between

void main(void)

and

main()

void main (void) is a function prototype

main() is a function call.

Originally Posted by CommonTater

void main (void) is a function prototype

main() is a function call.

I know that very well. I just wanted to ask that is this the same case with main() because in our code we don't need to declare main()'s prototype.

Yep... main is just a subrotine like all others... It's prototype is in the language statup code.

Originally Posted by C_programmer.C

I know that very well. I just wanted to ask that is this the same case with main() because in our code we don't need to declare main()'s prototype.

Without declaring the return type, you are implying that main returns int. This is acceptable under the C89 standard, but not under C99. It is probably best to explicitly declare the int return type.

you mean that main should be declared as follow

void main()

Originally Posted by C_programmer.C

you mean that main should be declared as follow

void main()

No, that is not at all what I mean. Declaring main as

Code:

void main

is almost never correct. Certainly for the typical user with a full operating system, and the standard C implementation, it is incorrect. main returns an int. See the FAQ (11.12b) for when main might not return int.

what i understand from the FAQs is that code must be like this

Code:

int main(void)
{
.
.
.
.
.
return(0);
}

That is one of the correct formats. Void main() is never correct in C.

Aha! that's why my compiler always warn me "main should return a value".
Coming back to me question, what i understand from all this discussion that
main()
means that i am clling the main function that is already declared in start up code.
while in
void main(void)
i am re-declaring main's prototype in wrong way!

Originally Posted by Adak

That is one of the correct formats. Void main() is never correct in C.

As I mentioned, void main is incorrect for a hosted environment. The same does not apply for a freestanding environment, but is "implementation defined."