5 Feb
2003
5 Feb
'03
10:28 a.m.
Bjarne Stroustrup who said something along the
lines of "Every use of a define is an instance of a programmer not
programming correctly."
Gee, thanks. But Bjarne Stroustrup was probably writing about C++, which
allows constants to be associated with a class:
const double Synth::DEFAULT_FRAME_RATE = 44100.0;
For C++, this construct is preferable to using a #define because the scope
is limited to the class and would not conflict with, for example:
const double Video::DEFAULT_FRAME_RATE = 30.0;
That is a great feature of C++ but PortAudio is using 'C' not C++. So I
think our only choices are #define and enum. PortAudio uses both.
http://www.portaudio.com/docs/v19-doxydocs/portaudio_8h.html
Are enums better than #defines?? I am always trying to improve my 'C' chops
so I am open to suggestions.
Phil Burk
Imagine being
able to write to an API as simple and well-designed as
this: <http://www.portaudio.com/docs/v19-doxydocs/portaudio_8h.html>
Just out of interest, why are paNoDevice, paFloat32, etc, defines
instead of const values? 
5 Feb
5 Feb
10:49 a.m.
Gee, thanks. But Bjarne Stroustrup was probably writing
about C++, which
allows constants to be associated with a class:
const double Synth::DEFAULT_FRAME_RATE = 44100.0;
For C++, this construct is preferable to using a #define because the scope
is limited to the class and would not conflict with, for example:
const double Video::DEFAULT_FRAME_RATE = 30.0;
That is a great feature of C++ but PortAudio is using 'C' not C++. So I
think our only choices are #define and enum. PortAudio uses both.
http://www.portaudio.com/docs/v19-doxydocs/portaudio_8h.html
Are enums better than #defines?? I am always trying to improve my 'C' chops
so I am open to suggestions.
the objections you raise apply to #define's and enums as well. they
are just as subject to namespace collisions as other names, hence the
C habit of:
#define __some_unique_prefix__now_the_real_part__ ...
the major benefit of using constants is type-safety.
1:46 p.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-dev] newest audio server for Linux (yep, yet another)
On Wed, 2003-02-05 at 14:19, Phil Burk wrote:
I just found it odd that there were *typed* defines and wondered if
there was any particular reason. I'm not particularly worried about it
either way really.. just being curious :)
Bob
Bjarne
Stroustrup who said something along the
lines of "Every use of a define is an instance of a programmer not
programming correctly."
Gee, thanks. 
2:29 p.m.
That is a great feature of C++ but PortAudio is using
'C' not C++. So I
think our only choices are #define and enum. PortAudio uses both.
you can still use const variables - gcc with optimizations treats them like
defines, but with type-safety.
Are enums better than #defines?? I am always trying to
improve my 'C' chops
so I am open to suggestions.
If you can enumerate the values, you should, IMHO. Of course, there are
times to break this, but in general YES. An enum is a real type, and can be
used as such.
enum foo_cmd {
FOO_A,
FOO_B,
FOO_C,
};
int doo_foo_cmd(enum foo_cmd cmd);
Tim
3:41 p.m.
On Wednesday 05 February 2003 6:18 pm, Tim Hockin wrote:
Consts are slightly different in standard C, though - they are treated as
ordinary variables that can't be changed. This means that in some non-gcc
compilers you can't say
const int a=10;
/* ... */
int n[a];
like you can in C++ or gcc without the --pedantic option. That's why you'll
often see enums used to specify array bounds in portable code.
That is a
great feature of C++ but PortAudio is using 'C' not C++. So I
think our only choices are #define and enum. PortAudio uses both.
you can still use const variables - gcc with optimizations treats them like
defines, but with type-safety. > Are enums better than #defines?? I am always
trying to improve my 'C'
> chops so I am open to suggestions.
only in that macros are generally a Bad Thing.
++templates_are_cool;, by the way ;)
If you can enumerate the values, you should, IMHO. Of
course, there are
times to break this, but in general YES. An enum is a real type, and can
be used as such.
enum foo_cmd {
FOO_A,
FOO_B,
FOO_C,
};
int doo_foo_cmd(enum foo_cmd cmd);
Tim
7899
days inactive
7899
days old
linux-audio-dev@lists.linuxaudio.org
4 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
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Bob Ham -
Nathaniel Virgo -
Paul Davis -
Phil Burk -
Tim Hockin