Re: efficient coding with literals and variables

From	Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: efficient coding with literals and variables
Date	2016-06-15 10:01 -0700
Organization	None to speak of
Message-ID	<lnk2hqz8qh.fsf@kst-u.example.com> (permalink)
References	<literals-20160614201332@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de> <njpnbq$je8$1@dont-email.me> <njqucm$1e9$1@dont-email.me>

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David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> writes:
> On 14/06/16 21:53, BartC wrote:
[...]
>> (I'm not sure I would bother either: if these are constant values known
>> at compile time, then #define or enums are better ways of denoting a
>> named constant.)
>
> No, #define and enum are /not/ better ways of denoting named constants.
>  They are sometimes the only way to get what you need, especially in C
> (in C++, "const int" is more powerful than it is in plain C).  It's okay
> to say that you /prefer/ to use #define or enum for named constants -
> but don't make the mistake of thinking your preferences for an extremely
> simple, limited and flat-structured language is "better" for other
> people or other purposes.

The problem with const is that it doesn't create a constant expression.
enum does (though it's limited to constants of type int).

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org  <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Working, but not speaking, for JetHead Development, Inc.
"We must do something.  This is something.  Therefore, we must do this."
    -- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"

Thread

Re: efficient coding with literals and variables BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-06-14 20:53 +0100
  Re: efficient coding with literals and variables David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2016-06-15 08:59 +0200
    Re: efficient coding with literals and variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2016-06-15 10:01 -0700
      Re: efficient coding with literals and variables David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2016-06-15 19:47 +0200
        Re: efficient coding with literals and variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2016-06-15 11:47 -0700
    Re: efficient coding with literals and variables Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2016-06-15 21:23 +0000
      Re: efficient coding with literals and variables David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2016-06-15 23:53 +0200
        Re: efficient coding with literals and variables Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2016-06-15 22:41 +0000
          Re: efficient coding with literals and variables "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2016-06-15 18:54 -0400
            Re: efficient coding with literals and variables Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2016-06-16 05:41 +0000
          Re: efficient coding with literals and variables David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2016-06-16 09:12 +0200
      Re: efficient coding with literals and variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2016-06-15 14:53 -0700

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