Re: Whaddaya think?

Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> writes:

On 2024-06-17, Richard Harnden <richard.nospam@gmail.invalid> wrote:

If a function is defined to return an int, then you should return one.
>
Anything else is just lazy/sloppy.  Just because main allows it as a
special case doesn't mean it's a good idea.
>
I mean: it's really not much extra to type.

>
The misfeature of missing return being success was, I believe, not
intended to make programs shorter. It was intendeda to correct the
random termination statuses of countless numbers of programs in a single
stroke.
>
Deliberately relying on this in a new program is like relying ona a
diaper. If you're of intermediate age, you don't do this.

Astronauts do this quite frequently. Some pilots too. And divers. And
crane operators. It's a well-established solution to a known problem.

However, I'd still put the explicit return in for a reason of
literal portability: were I to want to lift that code out into
a separate function called by main(), I'd want it to behave the
same.

Phil
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