Explain the macros, C/C++ Programming

Assignment Help:

Explain the Macros?

Preprocessor' is a translation stage that is applied to your source code before the compiler proper gets its hands on it. Usually the preprocessor performs textual substitutions on your source code. Macro is a kind of preprocessor which replaces instances of one piece of text with another.

A preprocessor line of the form

#define name text

defines a macro with the given name having as its value the given substitute text. After that for the rest of the current source file someplace the preprocessor sees that name, it will replace it with the replacement text. The name follows the similar rules as ordinary identifiers it can contain only letters, digits, and underscores, and may not begin with a digit. Ever since macros behave quite differently from normal variables or functions it is customary to give them names which are all capital letters or at least which begin with a capital letter. The replacement text is able to be absolutely anything--it's not restricted to numbers, or anything, or simple strings.

The mainly common use for macros is to propagate various constants around and to make them more self-documenting. We have been saying things like

char line[100];
...
getline(line, 100);

but this is neither reliable nor readable it's not essentially obvious what all those 100's scattered around the program are and if we ever decide that 100 is too small for the size of the array to hold lines we'll have to remember to change the number in two or more places. A lot better solution is to use a macro:

#define MAXLINE 100
char line[MAXLINE];
...
getline(line, MAXLINE);

Now if we still want to change the size we only must do it in one place. The macro text MAXLINE is known as a symbolic constant.


Related Discussions:- Explain the macros

Overloading unary operators, Overloading Unary Operators class sign ...

Overloading Unary Operators class sign {int a,b,c; public: sign(){}; sign(int,int,int); void putdata(void); void operator-(); }; void sign::operator-() {a=

Padovan string, padovan string for n natural numbers p(n)=1,p(n)=2,p(n)=3 a...

padovan string for n natural numbers p(n)=1,p(n)=2,p(n)=3 and use padovan formul to get output 1

Define the c preprocessor, Define the C Preprocessor? Preprocessor' is ...

Define the C Preprocessor? Preprocessor' is a translation stage that is applied to your source code before the compiler proper gets its hands on it usually the preprocessor per

How does c++ help with the tradeoff of security vs.usability, A: In C, enca...

A: In C, encapsulation was completed by making things static in a compilation unit or module. It prevented another module from accessing the static stuff. (Incidentally, now static

Luminous jewels polishing game, Luminous Jewels - The Polishing Game Bytel...

Luminous Jewels - The Polishing Game Byteland county is very famous for luminous jewels. Luminous jewels are used in making beautiful necklaces. A necklace consists of various lum

Described storage qualifiers in c++ ?, A: They are following: Const: poi...

A: They are following: Const: point out that memory once initialized, must not be modify through a program. Volatile: denote that value in the memory location can be modified

Padovan string, A Padovan string P(n) for a natural number n is defined as:...

A Padovan string P(n) for a natural number n is defined as: P(0) = ‘X’ P(1) = ‘Y’ P(2) = ‘Z’ P(n) = P(n-2) + P(n-3), n>2 where + denotes string concatenation. For a string of t

Explain compound assignment operators, Compound Assignment Operators Ap...

Compound Assignment Operators Apart from the binary and the unary arithmetic operators, we also have compound assignment operators. These are +=, -=, *=, /=, %=. Using these op

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd