Thining in C++ book and a guidline

[mpahlevanzadeh]

Dear all,
I read in end of Volume 1 of thinking C++ book (guidelines section):
"Avoid the preprocessor. Always use const for value
substitution and inlines for macros."
I like preprocessor and use them, if my macro is big, an inline finction can't answer me.
do you have any idea?

[shacktar]

Maybe the author meant to say "Try to avoid the preprocessor. Favour const for value substitution and inline functions over macros."

Here's a helpful quote (I didn't think it up. I've seen it used somewhere on these forums):

Unattributed wrote:

Always and never rules are never correct and should always be avoided.

[helios]

If the macro is too big, you probably* shouldn't be using a macro at all.


_{* There are a few cases involving repetitive code and early returns where macros are the way to go, but they're a minuscule minority.}

[Athar]

an inline finction can't answer me.

You might want to explain that in more detail.

[BHX]

Inline functions can't answer you? Huh? My understanding of inline functions is that they are functions but instead of referring back to the prototype/definition the inline makes the compiler put the function code copied into the function calls location. So I am uncertain what you mean by it can't answer you.

[hanst99]

Actually, the inline just tells your compiler that you want the function to be inlined, the compiler isn't required to do it. Likewise, a compiler may choose to inline a function that wasn't explicitly declared as such.