webMain

Prefer the webMain entry point over main

The main function is the traditional entry point of a C++ program. It also contains the whole program, which terminates after the main function returns.

When targeting the browser, you should avoid using main, and use webMain instead. However, if webMain is absent, main will be used as the entry point instead.

Your webMain should initialize the program, set up event handlers, and return control to the browser as soon as possible. After returning, the browser notifies the events you registered handlers for. If the entry point runs for a long time, the main thread will lock up and the browser tab might freeze.

Signature

void webMain()

webMain is void and takes no arguments because there is no shell environment for Cheerp to take command-line arguments from or pass an exit code to.

Command-line arguments

If your program absolutely needs to have command-line arguments passed in the standard way (through argc and argv parameters to main), you should use main instead of webMain and pass args.

In Cheerp, global objects outlive the entry point

Consider this program:

#include <iostream>

class C {
public:
  C() {
    std::cout << "Constructor\n";
  }
  ~C() {
    std::cout << " and Destructor\n";
  }
};

C global;

int main() {
  return 0;
}

If we compile the following program with a native compiler and run it, the resulting output will be Constructor\n and Destructor\n. However, compiling this program with Cheerp and running it will give Constructor\n!

Global objects outlive the call to the entry point, as it is meant for performing initializations/setting up event listeners. Due to these differing semantics, prefer webMain over main.