X-macros

suggest change

An idiomatic technique for generating repeating code structures at compile time.

An X-macro consists of two parts: the list, and the execution of the list.

Example:

#define LIST \
    X(dog)   \
    X(cat)   \
    X(racoon)

// class Animal {
//  public:
//    void say();
// };

#define X(name) Animal name;
LIST
#undef X

int main() {
#define X(name) name.say();
    LIST
#undef X

    return 0;
}

which is expanded by the preprocessor into the following:

Animal dog;
Animal cat;
Animal racoon;

int main() {
    dog.say();
    cat.say();
    racoon.say();

    return 0;
}

As lists become bigger (let’s say, more than 100 elements), this technique helps to avoid excessive copy-pasting.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Macro

See also: http://stackoverflow.com/documentation/c/628/x-macros


If defining a seamingly irrelevant X before using LIST is not to your liking, you can pass a macro name as an argument as well:

#define LIST(MACRO) \
    MACRO(dog) \
    MACRO(cat) \
    MACRO(racoon)

Now, you explicitly specify which macro should be used when expanding the list, e.g.

#define FORWARD_DECLARE_ANIMAL(name) Animal name;
LIST(FORWARD_DECLARE_ANIMAL)

If each invocation of the MACRO should take additional parameters - constant with respect to the list, variadic macros can be used

//a walkaround for Visual studio
#define EXPAND(x) x

#define LIST(MACRO, ...) \
    EXPAND(MACRO(dog, __VA_ARGS__)) \
    EXPAND(MACRO(cat, __VA_ARGS__)) \
    EXPAND(MACRO(racoon, __VA_ARGS__))

The first argument is supplied by the LIST, while the rest is provided by the user in the LIST invocation. For example:

#define FORWARD_DECLARE(name, type, prefix) type prefix##name;
LIST(FORWARD_DECLARE,Animal,anim_)
LIST(FORWARD_DECLARE,Object,obj_)

will expand to

Animal anim_dog;
Animal anim_cat;
Animal anim_racoon;
Object obj_dog;
Object obj_cat;
Object obj_racoon;

Feedback about page:

Feedback:
Optional: your email if you want me to get back to you:



Table Of Contents