Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!ucla-cs!alex
From: alex@CS.UCLA.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: return vs exit()
Message-ID: <10033@shemp.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 22 Dec 87 17:17:04 GMT
References: <10875@brl-adm.ARPA> <176@fxgrp.UUCP> <1286@laidbak.UUCP> <1293@laidbak.UUCP>
Sender: root@CS.UCLA.EDU
Reply-To: alex@CS.UCLA.EDU (Alex Quilici)
Organization: UCLA Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Lines: 15

In article <1293@laidbak.UUCP> daveb@laidbak.UUCP (Dave Burton) writes:
>OK. [return and exit()] are equivalent.
>K&R says so, K&P says so, H&S says so, etc., etc.
>
>Have return and exit() always been equivalent?
>
>If so, why is there an exit() function call, since
>	the semantics are the same?

A *return from main* and exit() are equivalent.

But you can use exit() to leave your program from any function within
it.  If nothing else, exit() is convenient for fatal-error handlers.

Alex