C++ attribute: noreturn (since C++11)

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

Algorithms library

Numerics library

Localizations library

Input/output library

Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Concurrency support library (C++11)

Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

C++ language

General topics
Preprocessor Comments	Keywords Escape sequences
Flow control
Conditional execution statements
if	switch
Iteration statements (loops)
for range-for (C++11)	while do-while
Jump statements
continue - break	goto - return
Functions
Function declaration
Lambda function expression
inline specifier
Dynamic exception specifications (until C++20)
noexcept specifier (C++11)
Exceptions
throw-expression	try-catch block
Namespaces
Namespace declaration	Namespace aliases
Types
Fundamental types Enumeration types Function types	Class/struct types Union types
Specifiers
decltype (C++11) auto (C++11) alignas (C++11)	const/volatile constexpr (C++11)
Storage duration specifiers
Initialization
Default initialization Value initialization Zero initialization Copy initialization Direct initialization	Aggregate initialization List initialization (C++11) Constant initialization Reference initialization

Expressions
Value categories Order of evaluation	Operators Operator precedence
Alternative representations
Literals
Boolean - Integer - Floating-point
Character - String - nullptr (C++11)
User-defined (C++11)
Utilities
Attributes (C++11)
Types
typedef declaration
Type alias declaration (C++11)
Casts
Implicit conversions - Explicit conversions
static_cast - dynamic_cast
const_cast - reinterpret_cast
Memory allocation
new expression	delete expression
Classes
Class declaration Constructors this pointer	Access specifiers friend specifier
Class-specific function properties
Virtual function override specifier (C++11) final specifier (C++11)	explicit (C++11) static
Special member functions
Default constructor Copy constructor Move constructor (C++11)	Copy assignment Move assignment (C++11) Destructor
Templates
Class template Function template	Template specialization Parameter packs (C++11)
Miscellaneous
Inline assembly	History of C++

 

Declarations

Overview declaration syntax decl-specifier-seq declarator Specifiers typedef inline virtual function specifier explicit function specifier    friend constexpr (C++11) consteval (C++20) constinit (C++20) storage class specifiers translation-unit-local (C++20) class/struct union enum decltype (C++11) auto (C++11) alignas (C++11) constvolatile elaborated type specifier attributes (C++11)

Declarators reference pointer array Block declarations simple-declaration → structured binding declaration (C++17) alias declaration(C++11) namespace alias definition using-declaration using-directive static_assert declaration (C++11) asm-declaration opaque enum declaration(C++11) Other declarations namespace definition function declaration class template declaration function template declaration explicit template instantiation(C++11) explicit template specialization linkage specification attribute declaration (C++11) empty declaration

 

Attributes

noreturn‎ (C++11)

carries_dependency (C++11)

deprecated (C++14)

fallthrough (C++17)

nodiscard (C++17)

maybe_unused (C++17)

likelyunlikely (C++20)(C++20)

no_unique_address (C++20)

optimize_for_synchronized (TM TS)

 

Indicates that the function does not return.

Syntax

[[noreturn]]

Explanation

Indicates that the function does not return.

This attribute applies to the name of the function being declared in function declarations only. The behavior is undefined if the function with this attribute actually returns.

The first declaration of the function must specify this attribute if any declaration specifies it. If a function is declared with [[noreturn]] in one translation unit, and the same function is declared without [[noreturn]] in another translation unit, the program is ill-formed; no diagnostic required.

Example

Run this code

[[ noreturn ]] void f() {
  throw "error";
  // OK
}
 
void q [[ noreturn ]] (int i) {
  // behavior is undefined if called with an argument <= 0
  if (i > 0) {
    throw "positive";
  }
}
 
// void h() [[noreturn]]; // error: attribute applied to function type of h, not h itself
 
int main() {
    try { f(); } catch(...) {}
    try { q(42); } catch(...) {}
}

Standard library

The following standard functions are declared with noreturn attribute:

Terminating functions
_Exit (C++11)	causes normal program termination without cleaning up (function)
abort	causes abnormal program termination (without cleaning up) (function)
exit	causes normal program termination with cleaning up (function)
quick_exit (C++11)	causes quick program termination without completely cleaning up (function)
terminate	function called when exception handling fails (function)
unexpected (removed in C++17)	function called when dynamic exception specification is violated (function)
Compiler hints
unreachable (C++23)	marks unreachable point of execution (function)
Always-throwing functions
rethrow_exception (C++11)	throws the exception from an std::exception_ptr (function)
rethrow_nested	throws the stored exception (public member function of std::nested_exception)
throw_with_nested (C++11)	throws its argument with std::nested_exception mixed in (function template)
Non-local jumps (since C++17)
longjmp	jumps to specified location (function)