Variable names in C

Question

In preprocessors, we can have switch between macros like,

#define BUFF(n) BUFF_##n

So, BUFF(1) would get replaced by BUFF_1, BUFF(2) would get replaced by BUFF_2 and song

Can this be applicable to C variables? i.e., choosing between similar variables dynamically. I understand it is a weird situation and can be handled using arrays or any other constructs.. but the situation demands me such situation.. could u plz help with this.. thanks in advance

Yeap, you better explain the original problem. Very likely C has a better solution for that. — sharptooth, Dec 09 '09 at 07:52

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 09 '09 at 07:50

4

Yes, you can use that macro to apply BUFF_ to just anything. The preprocessor will expand macros and then the compiler will try to compile the result. The latter might fail, since if you use BUFF(+) you get BUFF_+ and that's not a valid variable name.

answered Dec 09 '09 at 07:50

sharptooth

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Quite handy for subroutines too. I can't recall details but I'm fairly sure in my past life we had a real life application of this construct, although to be fair some of our coding practices were a bit off the wall... – Tony van der Peet Dec 09 '09 at 09:23

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 09 '09 at 07:49

3

Sure, you can do this. preprocessor macros are just text replacements that are done to the code before compilation. You can't do this during runtime, though.

answered Dec 09 '09 at 07:49

Andreas Kraft

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Variable names in C

2 Answers2

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