why do you need the return 0 c

Explanation of the "return 0" Statement in C

In C, the return 0 statement is used to indicate the successful termination of a program. When a C program reaches the end of the main function without encountering any errors, it is customary to use return 0 to indicate that the program executed successfully and produced the expected output.

The return statement in C is used to terminate the execution of a function and return a value to the calling function. In the case of the main function, which is the entry point of a C program, return 0 signifies that the program has executed without any errors and is exiting with a status code of 0.

In the context of the C programming language, the use of return 0 is a convention to indicate successful program execution. It is important for programs to return a status code to the operating system, and by convention, a status code of 0 indicates successful execution.

In summary, the return 0 statement in C is used to indicate the successful termination of a program, following the convention that a status code of 0 signifies successful execution.