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c++creturnvoid

Is returning void valid code?

I found out that the following code gets accepted by Visual C++ 2008 and GCC 4.3 compilers:

void foo()
{

}

void bar()
{
  return foo();
}

I am a bit surprised that it compiles. Is this a language feature or is it a bug in the compilers? What do the C/C++ standards say about this?

Solution

  • It's a language feature of C++

    C++ (ISO 14882:2003) 6.6.3/3

    A return statement with an expression of type “cv void” can be used only in functions with a return type of cv void; the expression is evaluated just before the function returns to its caller.

    C (ISO 9899:1999) 6.8.6.4/1

    A return statement with an expression shall not appear in a function whose return type is void.