Can the arguments of main's signature in C++ have the unsigned and const qualifiers? [duplicate]

Solution 1:

The C++98 standard says in section 3.6.1 paragraph 2

An implementation shall not predefine the main function. This function shall not be overloaded. It shall have a return type of type int, but otherwise its type is implementation-defined. All implementations shall allow both the following definitions of main: int main() and int main(int argc, char* argv[])

So it's not mandated by the standard that the env accepting main is acceptable but it is permissible.

Because this is referred to often, here is the previous paragraph exempting freestanding environments from anything but documenting their behavior:

A program shall contain a global function called main, which is the designated start of the program. It is implementation defined whether a program in a freestanding environment is required to define a main function. [Note: in a freestanding environment, startup and termination is implementation defined; startup contains the execution of constructors for objects of namespace scope with static storage duration; termination contains the execution of destructors for objects with static storage duration. ]

Solution 2:

You must use one of the standard-conformant signatures to be standard-conformant.

I fully understand why you want to do it your way. The best way is to write your own function myMain() or whatever with the signature you want and call it from main(), including the required casts.

Solution 3:

The argv pointers shouldn't be const char* const because the program is allowed to change the buffers.

Solution 4:

As far as I can see from reading the standard, you're being non-standards-compliant. But I can't imagine a compiler that wouldn't let you do this. As in, it'd take more work from the compiler to specifically ban an edge case that is mostly harmless and very obscure.