What is Return address?

Return address in the explanations

• Calling a subroutine pushes the return address, registers to be preserved and local variables onto the stack.

  When a program calls a subroutine (function), which area is…

• On a function call, its current value is saved to the stack or a link register as the return address.

  What does a CPU's program counter (PC) hold?

• The return address goes in x1 (ra).

  What is the property of register x0 (zero) in RISC-V?

Questions that mention Return address (10)

1. When a program calls a subroutine (function), which area is generally used to temporarily save the return address and similar information?
2. What does a CPU's program counter (PC) hold?
3. What is the property of register x0 (zero) in RISC-V?
4. What does the RISC-V instruction "jal ra, func" do?
5. A function that calls no other functions (a leaf function) often does not need to save ra on the stack. Why?
6. What is the purpose of executing "addi sp, sp, -16" at the start of a RISC-V function?
7. The code above is the start (prologue) of a function. What does it do?
8. How is a call through a C function pointer, "(*fp)(x)", generally performed in RISC-V?
9. Which attack does W^X (never allowing a page to be both writable and executable) make harder?
10. When returning from an interrupt or exception handler, why is a dedicated return instruction (such as RISC-V's sret or mret) used instead of an ordinary function return?

Related terms

Stack frame Stack pointer Calling convention Pseudo-instruction Leaf function Interrupt Privileged mode Addressing mode Application binary interface (ABI) Assembler