C++ Preprocessor

Preprocessors in C++, are basically the directives, instructs the C++ compiler to pre-process the information before the actual program compilation.

#define Preprocessor in C++

Macros are built on the #define preprocessor. Normally a #define would look like :

#define PI 3.142

But, a macro would look like this (also called as function macro).

#define SQUARE(x) x∗x

The main difference is that the first example is a symbolic constant and the second is an expression. If the macro above was used in some code it may look like this :

/* C++ Preprocessor - Example Program */

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>

#define SQUARE(x) x*x

void main()
{
   clrscr();
   int val;
   cout<<"Enter a number: ";
   cin>>val;
   cout<<"Square = "<<SQUARE(val);
   getch();
}

After processing the code would become :

void main()
{
   clrscr();
   int val;
   cout<<"Enter a number: ";
   cin>>val;
   cout<<"Square = "<<val*val;
   getch();
}

Here is the sample run of this C++ program:

The text replacement for a macro, is known as macro expansion.

A few things that you must know about macros are :

A macro without argument is treated like a symbolic constant.
A macro with arguments has its arguments substituted for replacement text, when the macro is expanded.
A macro substitutes text only; it does not check for data types.

While defining macros, make sure to use parenthesis, as it ensures the correct result. For instance, if you have defined a macro like :

#define CIRCLE_AREA(x) PI∗x∗x

and you are using it as :

area = CIRCLE_AREA(c + 2) ;

then it would be expanded as :

area = 3.14159 ∗ c + 2 ∗ c + 2 ;

See, would it yield the correct result? To obtain the correct result, you should define this macro as :

#define CIRCLE_AREA((x)) PI∗(x)∗(x)

would cause

rectArea = RECTANGLE_AREA(x + 4, y +7) ;

be expanded as

rectArea = ((x+4) ∗ (y+7)) ;

Here is an example, illustrating the #define preprocessor in C++

/* C++ Preprocessor - Example Program */

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
#define PI 3.14
void main()
{
   clrscr();
   cout<<"Value of PI is "<<PI;
   getch();
}

Here is the sample output of the above C++ program:

Let's take one more example, demonstrating preprocessor in C++

/* C++ Preprocessor - Example Program */

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
#define PI 3.14
void main()
{
   clrscr();
   int rad;
   cout<<"Enter radius of the circle: ";
   cin>>rad;
   cout<<"Area of the circle is "<<PI*rad*rad;
   getch();
}

Here is the sample run of the above C++ program:

For more detail about #define, refer C++ #define

Function Macros in C++

Here is an example program demonstrating the function macros (preprocessor) in C++

/* C++ Preprocessors - Example Program */

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
#define MIN(num1, num2) (((num1)<(num2))?num1:num2)
void main()
{
   clrscr();
   int a, b;
   cout<<"Enter any two number: ";
   cin>>a>>b;
   cout<<"Minimum of the two number is "<<MIN(a, b);
   getch();
}

Below is the sample run of the above C++ program:

Here is one more example program, also demonstrating preprocessor in C++

/* C++ Preprocessors - Example Program */

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
#define MAX(num1, num2) (((num1)>(num2))?num1:num2)
void main()
{
   clrscr();
   int a, b;
   cout<<"Enter any two number: ";
   cin>>a>>b;
   cout<<"Maximum of the two number = "<<MAX(a, b);
   getch();
}

Below is the sample run of this C++ program:

Conditional Compilation in C++

Here is an example program, demonstrating the conditional compilation in C++:

/* C++ Preprocessor - Example Program */

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
#define DEBUG
#define MIN(num1, num2) (((num1)<(num2))?num1:num2)
void main()
{
   clrscr();
   int a, b;
   cout<<"Enter two number: ";
   cin>>a>>b;
   #ifdef DEBUG
      cerr<<"Trace: inside the main() function\n";
   #endif
   #if 0
   cout<<MKSTR(HELLO C++)<<endl;
   #endif
   cout<<"The minimum = "<<MIN(a, b)<<"\n";
   #ifdef DEBUG
      cerr<<"Trace: coming out of the main() function\n";
   #endif
   getch();
}

Here is the sample run of the above C++ program:

Below is another example program, also demonstrating the conditional compilation in C++

/* C++ Preprocessor - Example Program */

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
#define DEBUG
#define MAX(num1, num2) (((num1)>(num2))?num1:num2)
void main()
{
   clrscr();
   int a, b;
   cout<<"Enter two number: ";
   cin>>a>>b;
   #ifdef DEBUG
      cerr<<"Trace: inside the main() function\n";
   #endif
   #if 0
   // this is commented part
   cout<<MKSTR(HELLO C++)<<endl;
   #endif
   cout<<"The maximum of the two number = "<<MAX(a, b)<<"\n";
   #ifdef DEBUG
      cerr<<"Trace: coming out of the main() function\n";
   #endif
   getch();
}

Following is the sample run of the above C++ program:

# and ## Operators in C++

The # operator causes a replacement-text token to be converted to a string surrounded by the quotes. Here is an example demonstrating this.

/* C++ Preprocessor - Example Program */

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
#define MKSTR(z) #z
void main()
{
   clrscr();
   cout<<MKSTR(HELLO C++)<<endl;
   getch();
}

Following is the sample output of the above C++ program:

Here the line:

cout<<MKSTR(HELLO C++)<<endl;

becomes

cout<<"HELLO C++"<<endl;

The ## operator is used to concatenate two tokens. Below is an example program demonstrating this concept:

/* C++ Preprocessor - Example Program */

#include<iostream.h>
#include<conio.h>
#define concat(i, j) i##j
void main()
{
   clrscr();
   int ab=100;
   cout<<concat(a, b);
   getch();
}

Here is the sample output of this C++ program:

Here the line

cout<<concat(a, b);

becomes

cout<<ab;

C++ Online Test

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