Why cast unused return values to void?

Question

int fn();

void whatever()
{
    (void) fn();
}

Is there any reason for casting an unused return value to void, or am I right in thinking it\'s a c

Answer 1

The true reason for doing this dates back to a tool used on C code, called lint.

It analyzes code looking for possible problems and issuing warnings and suggestions. If a function returned a value which was then not checked, lint would warn in case this was accidental. To silence lint on this warning, you cast the call to (void).