The CeePlusPlus standards say main() shall return an int. The construct "void main()" occupies an unregulated area between "vendor-specific extension" and "ill-formed".

I have extracted a list of the ''real'' reasons, by me (PhlIp) and a few others, why students should take ''int main'' more seriously:

'''void main ~~~. Use int main''':

	* causes illiteracy in lab mice
	* inspires television networks to move reality shows to the next logical step: Human sacrifice
	* will transmit the contents of your internet cache folders to the nearest repressed fundamentalist priest
	* will precipitate the return of the Joe Isuzu commercials (1999/11/20)
	* causes destructive thread recidivism in technical newsgroups
	* will attract biker gangs to your granma's neighborhood
	* is a capitalist plot
	* convinces white supremacists to stay "in the closet" about their thing for Reggae music
	* nutates the precession of the equinoxes
	* has designs on your kid sister
	* makes killer bees think you smell like Chanel No. 5
	* will inspire mass media to get over this current cheerleader/gymnast thing
	* denies workers control over the means of production
	* relaxes the prohibitions against split infinitives (1999/04/24)
	* is caused by orbiting microwave platforms that target the thermal resonance signature of your neurons
	* makes Disney executives have vivid anxiety dreams about not litigating enough
	* makes folks >still< think alien beings make crop circles
	* uses NFL broadcasts without the expressed written consent of Fox Network
	* will make your loved ones think you have been possessed by aliens
	* will make you blind, grow hair on your palms, and convince you to vote Republican
	* increases the chances air traffic controllers accidentally cross flight corridors directly over your house
	* makes street lunatics think you are part of the conspiracy against them
	* points the Hubble Space Telescope at your house
	* makes IBM think they have a prayer of solving the Protein Folding Problem in less time than the Sun takes to burn out
	* makes George Lucas think we can tell the difference between any of his StarWars movies
	* makes your balls drop off
	* inspires a remote tribe in Borneo to carve big wooden statues that look just like you
	* causes Phlip's big toe to swell up like a balloon
	* inspires Hollywood executives to sign off on yet another insipid live-action remake of an insipid 1970s cartoon
	* has been cruely tested on charismatic dolphins and adorable baby seals
	* has already caused the return of Joe Isuzu, as I prophesied on this newsgroup last year (2001/04/04)
	* dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria

But see VoidMainIssues.
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CategoryProgrammingLanguage CategoryLanguageImplementation