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.
Just do something like this: #ifdef USE_CONST #define MYCONST const #else #define MYCONST #endif Then you can write code like this: MYCONST int x = 1; MYCONST char* foo = "bar"; and if you compile with USE_CONST defined (e.g., typically something -DUSE_CONST in the makefile or compiler options) then it will use the consts; otherwise it won't.
As far as I know, what you're trying to do (use if statement and then return a value from a macro) isn't possible in ISO C... but it is somewhat possible with statement expressions (GNU extension). Since #define s are essentially just fancy text find-and-replace, you have to be really careful about how they're expanded. I've found that this works on gcc and clang by default:
#define simply substitutes a name with its value. Furthermore, a #define 'd constant may be used in the preprocessor: you can use it with #ifdef to do conditional compilation based on its value, or use the stringizing operator # to get a string with its value.
The #define directive is a preprocessor directive; the preprocessor replaces those macros by their body before the compiler even sees it. 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 ...
0 in C or C++ #define allows you to create preprocessor Macros. In the normal C or C++ build process the first thing that happens is that the PreProcessor runs, the preprocessor looks though the source files for preprocessor directives like #define or #include and then performs simple operations with them.
#define _add_penguin(a) penguin ## a #define add_penguin(a) _add_penguin(a) #define WIDTH (100) #define HEIGHT 200 add_penguin(HEIGHT) // expands to penguin200 add_penguin(WIDTH) // error, cannot concatenate penguin and (100) Same for stringization (#). Clearly this is a corner case and probably doesn't matter considering how WIDTH will presumably be used. Still, it is something to keep in ...
return otherModule.operation(); }; }); Maybe you got mixed up with the JSONP service dependency format, which uses require () to load the service, and then specify define () as the JSONP callback which will eventually define the module once the service responds. So in the end, you use define () to define modules, and require () to load them.
