int main()
{
statements
return 0;
}
{
statements
return 0;
}
Right now the main point to remember is that C++ syntax requires you to begin the definition of the main() function with this header: int main(). In general, a C++ function is activated, or called, by another function, and the function header describes the interface between a function and the function that calls it. The part preceding the function name is called the function return type; it describes information flow from a function back to the function that calls it. The part within the parentheses following the function name is called the argument list or parameter list; it describes information flow from the calling function to the called function. This general format is a bit confusing when you apply it to main() because you normally don’t call main() from other parts of your program. Typically, however, main() is called by startup code that the compiler adds to your program to mediate between the program and the operating system (Unix, Windows XP, or whatever). In effect, the function header describes the interface between main() and the operating system.
Consider the interface for main(), beginning with the int part. A C++ function called by another function can return a value to the activating (calling) function. That value is called a return value. In this case, main() can return an integer value, as indicated by the keyword int.
Next, note the empty parentheses. In general, a C++ function can pass information to another function when it calls that function. The portion of the function header enclosed in parentheses describes that information. In this case, the empty parentheses mean that the main() function takes no information, or, in the usual terminology, main() takes no arguments. (To say that main() takes no arguments doesn’t mean that main() is an unreasonable, authoritarian function. Instead, argument is the term computer buffs use to refer to information passed from one function to another.)
In short, the header
int main()
states that the main() function returns an integer value to the function that calls it and that main() takes no information from the function that calls it.
Many existing programs use the classic C header instead:
main() // original C style
Under classic C, omitting the return type is the same as saying that the function is type int.
However, C++ has phased out that usage.
You can also use this variant:
int main(void) //
very explicit style Using the keyword void in the parentheses is an explicit way of saying that the function takes no arguments. Under C++ (but not C), leaving the parentheses empty is the same as using innards of an object in order to use it. All you must know is its interface—that is, how to use it. The cout object has a simple interface. If string represents a string, you can do the following to display it:
cout << string;
This is all you must know to display a string, but now take a look at how the C++ conceptual view represents the process. In this view, the output is a stream—that is, a series of characters flowing from the program. The cout object, whose properties are defined in the iostream file, represents that stream. The object properties for cout include an insertion operator (<<) that inserts the information on its right into the stream. Consider the following statement (note the terminating semicolon):
cout << “Come up and C++ me some time.”;
It inserts the string “Come up and C++ me some time.” into the output stream. Thus, rather than say that your program displays a message, you can say that it inserts a string into the output stream. Somehow, that sounds more impressive.