Re: Loops (was Re: do { quit; } else { })

On 23/04/2025 11:58, Muttley@DastardlyHQ.org wrote:

On Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:15:01 +0100
bart <bc@freeuk.com> wibbled:

IMV, macros generally are a bad idea. They are especially bad with how
they are implemented in C:

 C macros do essentially 4 different things:
1) Provide a way to pass compilation data directly into the code via compiler
    switches and #ifdef
2) Allow conditional compilation for different OS's

That does not need expandable macros.

3) Allow repeating blocks of code to be compacted into a single macro when
    having a function instead would be more complicated and/or inefficient.
4) An alternative to inline functions. Probably the least useful.
 

* Their implementation is complex and poorly defined.

 Maybe to you.

Have you ever implemented a C preprocessor?

* Macros don't obey normal scope rules.

 They're not supposed to.

So, is that good or bad? (Let me guess: it's good that it works like that!)

So what? You'd get a compilation error.

If you're lucky. Or you get a silent, undetectable bug, since any alphanumeric token: identifier, type, or reserved word, gets expanded, no matter what the context.
(Let me guess again: that's still fine!)