What is the point of #define in C++? I've only seen examples where it's used in place of a "magic number" but I don't see the point in just giving that value to a variable instead. c++ - Why use #define instead of a variable - Stack Overflow The #define directive is a preprocessor directive; the preprocessor replaces those macros by their body before the compiler even sees it.

Understanding the Context

Think of it as an automatic search and replace of your source code. A const variable declaration declares an actual variable in the language, which you can use... well, like a real variable: take its address, pass it around, use it, cast/convert it, etc. Oh ...

Key Insights

The question is if users can define new macros in a macro, not if they can use macros in macros. Is it better to use static const variables than #define preprocessor? Or does it maybe depend on the context? What are advantages/disadvantages for each method? How do I define a function with optional arguments?

Final Thoughts

Asked 14 years, 1 month ago Modified 1 year, 9 months ago Viewed 1.2m times Macros (created with #define) are always replaced as written, and can have double-evaluation problems. inline on the other hand, is purely advisory - the compiler is free to ignore it. Under the C99 standard, an inline function can also have external linkage, creating a function definition which can be linked against. #ifdef DEBUG #define DEBUG_TEST 1 #else #define DEBUG_TEST 0 #endif And then use DEBUG_TEST where I used DEBUG. If you insist on a string literal for the format string (probably a good idea anyway), you can also introduce things like __FILE__, __LINE__ and __func__ into the output, which can improve the diagnostics: