3 exits

Understanding the three standard ways to exit a C++ program

This is an easy language-knowledge question that tests whether you know the standard library functions available in C++ for terminating a program. It's the kind of question that appears in technical interviews to verify solid familiarity with the standard library, particularly the cstdlib header.

The question asks you to name and distinguish between the three distinct mechanisms the C++ standard provides for exiting main. Each has different semantics around cleanup, return codes, and flushing of streams—details that matter in production systems where resource cleanup and exit status codes are important.

• Exit status codes and their meaning to the operating system
• Behavior of destructors and static object cleanup
• Stream flushing and signal handlers during program termination