Microsoft Specific —>
This is the default calling convention for C and C++ programs. Because the stack is cleaned up by the caller, it can do vararg functions. The __cdecl calling convention creates larger executables than __stdcall, because it requires each function call to include stack cleanup code. The following list shows the implementation of this calling convention.
| Element | Implementation |
| Argument-passing order | Right to left |
| Stack-maintenance responsibility | Calling function pops the arguments from the stack |
| Name-decoration convention | Underscore character (_) is prefixed to names |
| Case-translation convention | No case translation performed |
Note For related information, see Decorated Names.
Place the __cdecl modifier before a variable or a function name. Because the C naming and calling conventions are the default, the only time you need to use __cdecl is when you have specified the /Gz (stdcall) or /Gr (fastcall) compiler option. The /Gd compiler option forces the __cdecl calling convention.
In the following example, the compiler is instructed to use C naming and calling conventions for the system function:
// Example of the __cdecl keyword
_CRTIMP int __cdecl system(const char *);
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