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ccommand-line-argumentsargvargc

Do the names of the args passed to main() matter

I know that to use command line arguments in C you do something like this:

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
//use argc and argv
}

Today I was thinking about it and I realized I have never not seen them called argc and argv. Is it a requirement that they are called this or is it just convention? If it is required why is this the case?

Could I do something like this:

int main(int length, char**myinput){
//use length as you would argc and myinput
// as you would argv
}

I haven't had a chance to write a program to test it out yet.

Solution

  • The C standard says that you can call them whatever you want.

    5.1.2.2.1 Program startup

    1 The function called at program startup is named main. The implementation declares no prototype for this function. It shall be defined with a return type of int and with no parameters:

    int main(void) { /* ... */ }

    or with two parameters (referred to here as argc and argv, though any names may be used, as they are local to the function in which they are declared): [..]

    In What does int argc, char *argv[] mean?, answerer meager says that argc and argv are named so by convention (argument count and argument vector respectively).