Does a 'whenever a creature dies' trigger fire if the creature is exiled instead of going to the graveyard?

The word 'dies' is a defined game term in Magic. According to CR 700.4, 'dies' means a creature card is put into a graveyard from the battlefield. If a creature is exiled instead of going to the graveyard, it has not 'died' in the rules sense, so no 'dies' trigger fires.

This distinction matters a great deal in practice. Effects that replace a creature going to the graveyard with exile — such as the exile clause on Leyline of the Void or Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet — prevent the creature from ever reaching the graveyard, meaning 'whenever a creature dies' triggers never see it (CR 614.1, replacement effects modify events before they happen).

Similarly, if a player activates an ability that says 'exile target creature,' that creature moves directly from the battlefield to exile, again bypassing the graveyard entirely and producing no 'dies' trigger.

Concrete example: You control a Zulaport Cutthroat ("whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life"). Your opponent plays Swords to Plowshares targeting your Goblin. Swords to Plowshares exiles the Goblin, so it never enters the graveyard. Zulaport Cutthroat's ability does not trigger — no life is lost.

If instead your Goblin were simply destroyed by, say, Lightning Bolt, it would move to the graveyard and Zulaport Cutthroat's trigger would fire normally, because the Goblin has 'died' per CR 700.4.