Different conventions for main() in C

Question

My only exposure to programming has been Java,where I have not encountered (up to now) different conventions for writing the main method.I have been following to sources for learning c (K&R AND C Programming A Modern Approach) where they use very different forms of the main method (function).

K&R version up to now:

main() {
    blah blah blah;
}

C Programming A Modern Approach

int main() {
    blah blah blah;
    return 0;
}

OR

int main() {
    blah blah blah; 
    //returns nothing
}

To make matters more confusing I have seen people do :

int main(void) {
    blah blah blah;
}

while they either returned 0 or did not. I don't in my very uneducated assumption think this is only a standards issue but maybe something a bit more conceptual or deep. Could someone shed some light on this issue?

Different conventions for main() in C

4 Answers