[prog] error: "reference 'main' can not be resolved"

[Tim King]

Asl?  <gosalyn at gmail.com> wrote:
> for my system programming course, i'd like to learn whether the linker or
> the loader causes this pseudo-error message:
> " reference 'main' can not be resolved" , and what causes this error.

Hi, Asli. What language are you using? C, C++, Java, or what? Also, what 
compiler or development environment are you using?

In C or C++, a message like this typically means the linker cannot find 
the main() function. In C, it doesn't matter what formal parameters 
main() takes, though your program may do funny things or crash if you 
use the wrong ones. In C++, the /compiler/ should chide you if you get 
the formal parameters wrong, with a more specific message, before you 
even get to the linking stage.

In a language like Java, symbol references are resolved at run-time when 
the virtual machine links the class into the running program, after the 
class loader loads the class. The run-time would complain if it can't 
find a suitable main(). This could be (for example) because you forgot 
to declare it static, didn't provide suitable formal parameters, or 
misspelled the class name.

-TimK
-- 
J. Timothy King
www.jtse.com