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17.6 Non-returning Functions

A "non-returning" function is a function which cannot return normally. Instead of returning, it can loop forever, or it can transfer control via abort, execvp, exit, longjmp, throw (in C++), or similar mechanisms. Non-returning functions are declared with a void return type.

It helps the compiler’s ability to emit sensible warnings, following data-flow analysis, to declare which functions are non-returning. It can also help generate more-efficient code, as there is no need to save a return address when calling a non-returning function.

Gnulib has multiple ways to support such a declaration:

• The _Noreturn keyword. No modules are needed, as Gnulib arranges for <config.h> to define _Noreturn to an appropriate replacement on platforms lacking it. Unfortunately, although this approach works for all current C versions, the _Noreturn keyword is obsolescent in C23.
• The ‘noreturn’ module. It provides a way to put this declaration at function declarations, at function definitions, and in function pointer types. The identifiers to use are:
  • - _GL_NORETURN_FUNC for use in function declarations and function definitions.
  • - _GL_NORETURN_FUNCPTR for use on function pointers.

  The include file is <noreturn.h>.

Which of the approaches to use? If the non-returning functions you have to declare are unlikely to be accessed through function pointers, you should use _Noreturn; otherwise the module noreturn provides for better data-flow analysis and thus for better warnings.

There is also an obsolete stdnoreturn module, but its use is no longer recommended.