How do I return a value from the main function in MIPS?

Question

Say I want to write the following C program in MIPS:

int main () {
  return 5;
}

When I try the following MIPS code in MARS:

Answer 1

Use syscall 17:

exit2 (terminate with value)
----------------------------
$v0 = 17
$a0 = termination result

Note that "If the MIPS program is run under control of the MARS graphical interface (GUI), the exit code in $a0 is ignored."