#define vs typedef

[sophia]

Dear all,

the following are the differences b/w #define and typedef ,which i
have seen in Peter van der lindens book. is there any other difference
between thes two ?



The right way to think about typedef as being a complete encapsulated
type - you can't add to it after you have declared it.

ex:-

#define peach int
unsigned peach i; /*works fine*/

typedef int banana ;
unsigned banana i; /*illegal*/

a typedef'd name provides the type for every declarator in a
declaration

Ex:-

#define int_ptr int*
int_ptr chalk, cheese;

after macro expansion, the second line effectively becomes
int* chalk,cheese;

In contrast a typedef like this:

typedef char* char_ptr;
char_ptr bentley,rolls_r oyce;

declares both bentley and rolls_royce to be the same . the name on the
front is different, but they are both a pointer to a char.

[Jack Klein]

Re: #define vs typedef

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:44:41 -0700 (PDT), sophia
<sophia.agnes@g mail.comwrote in comp.lang.c:

Dear all,
>
the following are the differences b/w #define and typedef ,which i
have seen in Peter van der lindens book. is there any other difference
between thes two ?
>
>
>
The right way to think about typedef as being a complete encapsulated
type - you can't add to it after you have declared it.
>
ex:-
>
#define peach int
unsigned peach i; /*works fine*/
>
typedef int banana ;
unsigned banana i; /*illegal*/
>
a typedef'd name provides the type for every declarator in a
declaration
>
Ex:-
>
#define int_ptr int*
int_ptr chalk, cheese;
>
after macro expansion, the second line effectively becomes
int* chalk,cheese;
>
In contrast a typedef like this:
>
typedef char* char_ptr;
char_ptr bentley,rolls_r oyce;
>
declares both bentley and rolls_royce to be the same . the name on the
front is different, but they are both a pointer to a char.

cv qualifiers (and possibly the restrict qualifier, haven't thought
about it) can't "penetrate" a typedef, they can only apply to the
object defined.

Example:

typedef char *cptr;
#define CPTR char *

int main(void)
{
char junk [] = "abcdefghij ";
const cptr cp1 = junk;
cptr const cp2 = junk;
const CPTR cp3 = junk;
CPTR const cp4 = junk;
*cp1 = '1'; /* line 11, cp1 points to non-const char */
*cp2 = '2'; /* line 12, cp2 points to non-const char */
*cp3 = '3'; /* line 13, cp3 points to const char */
*cp4 = '4'; /* line 14, cp4 points to non-const char */
++cp1; /* line 15, cp1 pointer is const */
++cp2; /* line 16, cp2 pointer is const */
++cp3; /* line 17, cp3 pointer is non-const */
++cp4; /* line 18, cp4 pointer is const */
}

Here's the output from Visual C++ 6:

junk.c(13) : error C2166: l-value specifies const object
junk.c(15) : error C2166: l-value specifies const object
junk.c(16) : error C2166: l-value specifies const object
junk.c(18) : error C2166: l-value specifies const object

So putting the const keyword either before or after a typedef'ed
pointer type does not make it a pointer to const" as one might think.
Instead the pointer being defined, is a constant pointer to
non-constant.

On the other hand, adding the const keyword to the CPTR macro makes is
a non-const pointer to const car, if used before the macro, or a const
pointer to non-const char, if used after.

--
Jack Klein
Home: http://JK-Technology.Com
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