There are two different scenario return statement is used inside c++ programming. We can use return 0 c++ inside main() function or other user defined functions also. But both have different meanings.
- return 0 c++ used inside Main function
- return 0 c++ used inside other user defined function

What is meaning of return 0 and return 1 in c++ ?
There will be two scenario for it. Possible function can be main() function or any other user defined function.
return 0 c++ in main() function.
If c++ program is completed successfully then it will return 0 in main function.
#include <iostream> using namespace std; int main() { // Successfully completing program return 0; } |
return 1 c++ in main() function.
If there is some error in program or exited with error then it will return 1 in main function.
#include <iostream> using namespace std; int main() { // Errors in completing program (Exited with Error) return 1; } |
return 0 c++ in boolean return type function
If there is function in c++ with return type boolean then if it return 0 then it means return false. You can use this return for checking that required condition or logic is satisfied or not.
bool func( int iVal) { if (iVal == 2) { // Same as return true; return 1; } else { // Same as return false; return 0; } } |
In given function if function return 1 means value is 2 otherwise it will return 0. So we can identify by this function that given value is 2 or not.
return 1 c++ in boolean return type function
If function return 1 means our condition is satisfy and it will return true.
#include <iostream> using namespace std; int main() { // result1 is true (return 1) bool result1 = func(2); // result2 is false (return 0) bool result2 = func(2); // Successfully completing program return 0; } bool func( int iVal) { if (iVal == 2) { return 1; // Same as return true; } else { return 0; // Same as return false; } } |
CONCLUSION:
If we want to exit our program successful then we return 0 inside main function. If there is some error during exiting program then we can return 1 inside main function. In case of other user defined functions which return boolean value. Then we can check conditioning of function using return value of function. Here if function return 1 means condition is TRUE and if function return 0 then conditions is FALSE.
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