The attribute noreturn indicates that a function does not return. This information clarifies the behavior of the function and it
allows the compiler to do optimizations.
It can also help the compiler (and static analyzer tools, i.e. us) provide better error messages:
__attribute__((noreturn)) void f();
int g(int b) {
if (b == 5) {
f();
printf("Hello world\n"); // This is dead code, the compiler/static analyzer can now detect it
// There is no returned value, but it is fine, the compiler/static analyzer knows not to warn about it
} else {
return 3;
}
}
This rule detects when the attribute noreturn can be added to a function.
Noncompliant code example
void g() { // Noncompliant
abort();
}
Compliant solution
__attribute__((noreturn)) void g() { // or [[noreturn]] for C++
abort(); // Compliant
}
