Let's say that for some reason you need to write a macro: MACRO(X,Y)
. (Let's assume there's a good reason you can't use an inline function.) You want this macro to emulate a call to a function with no return value.
Example 1: This should work as expected.
if (x > y)
MACRO(x, y);
do_something();
Example 2: This should not result in a compiler error.
if (x > y)
MACRO(x, y);
else
MACRO(y - x, x - y);
Example 3: This should not compile.
do_something();
MACRO(x, y)
do_something();
The naïve way to write the macro is like this:
#define MACRO(X,Y) \
cout << "1st arg is:" << (X) << endl; \
cout << "2nd arg is:" << (Y) << endl; \
cout << "Sum is:" << ((X)+(Y)) << endl;
This is a very bad solution which fails all three examples, and I shouldn't need to explain why.
Ignore what the macro actually does, that's not the point.
Now, the way I most often see macros written is to enclose them in curly braces, like this:
#define MACRO(X,Y) \
{ \
cout << "1st arg is:" << (X) << endl; \
cout << "2nd arg is:" << (Y) << endl; \
cout << "Sum is:" << ((X)+(Y)) << endl; \
}
This solves example 1, because the macro is in one statement block. But example 2 is broken because we put a semicolon after the call to the macro. This makes the compiler think the semicolon is a statement by itself, which means the else statement doesn't correspond to any if statement! And lastly, example 3 compiles OK, even though there is no semicolon, because a code block doesn't need a semicolon.
Is there a way to write a macro so that it pass all three examples?
Note: I am submitting my own answer as part of the accepted way of sharing a tip, but if anyone has a better solution feel free to post it here, it may get more votes than my method. 🙂
Best Answer
Macros should generally be avoided; prefer inline functions to them at all times. Any compiler worth its salt should be capable of inlining a small function as if it were a macro, and an inline function will respect namespaces and other scopes, as well as evaluating all the arguments once.
If it must be a macro, a while loop (already suggested) will work, or you can try the comma operator:
The
(void)0
causes the statement to evaluate to one ofvoid
type, and the use of commas rather than semicolons allows it to be used inside a statement, rather than only as a standalone. I would still recommend an inline function for a host of reasons, the least of which being scope and the fact thatMACRO(a++, b++)
will incrementa
andb
twice.