why is free() a void?

[Rahul Dhesi]

>>...I'm curious as to why free() does not return a value.

Yes, free() could legitimately return an error code if it detected
something wrong.  A debugging version of the memory allocation library
could always have free() return a useful value, and even production
versions could sometimes return an error indication.

Also, a signal handler (*handler)() installed by signal() could
legitimately return a status code for use by the kernel.

Both free() and (*handler)() used to return int at one time.  The
availability of the `void' data type, and a certain religious desire to
be "pure", seem to have made both functions now return nothing.  It's a
loss.
--
Rahul Dhesi <dhesi%cirrusl at oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com>
UUCP:  oliveb!cirrusl!dhesi