CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ckeyword
user5757613
user5757613

Reputation:

Are 'include' and 'define' also considered as keywords in C?

Since we use 'include' and 'define' only after # in C, that too at the start of the program; do we still consider them as keywords? Can we declare variables called include or define?

int include, define;

Is this wrong? The thing is, it shouldn't be wrong according to me. I tried this out and it does not give me any errors. However, my university conducted a quiz in which they said that these 2 declarations are wrong.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 3185

Answers (4)

ΦXocę 웃 Пepeúpa ツ
ΦXocę 웃 Пepeúpa ツ

Reputation: 48287

No Keywords but instead include and define are C Preprocessor Directives,

Quote:

the C preprocessor modifies a source file before handing it over to the compiler, allowing conditional compilation with >#ifdef, defining constants with #define, including header files with #include, and using builtin macros such as FILE. >This page lists the preprocessor directives, or commands to the preprocessor, that are available:

FWIW:

There are another prepocessors...

  • #define
  • #undef
  • #if
  • #ifdef
  • #ifndef
  • #error
  • FILE
  • LINE
  • DATE
  • TIME
  • TIMESTAMP
  • pragma
  • # macro operator
  • ## macro operator

    • Upvotes: 0

    Sourav Ghosh
    Sourav Ghosh

    Reputation: 134356

    As per the C11 specification, chapter §6.4.1, keywords, include and define does not appear in the reserved keywords list. So they are not keywords.

    FWIW, the list of keywords, as it appears,

    keyword: one of

    auto ∗
break
case
char
const
continue
default
do
double
else
enum
extern
float
for
goto
if
inline
int
long
register
restrict
return
short
signed
sizeof
static
struct
switch
typedef
union
unsigned
void
volatile
while
_Alignas
_Alignof
_Atomic
_Bool
_Complex
_Generic
_Imaginary
_Noreturn
_Static_assert
_Thread_local

    Upvotes: 1

    Lohit Barki
    Lohit Barki

    Reputation: 41

    No they are not Keywords like int,char,if,while,etc but they are pre-processors which begin with hash symbol "#".These pre-processors are used for linking,defining,etc purposes For more information u can refer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_preprocessor

    Upvotes: 0

    Grzegorz Szpetkowski
    Grzegorz Szpetkowski

    Reputation: 37944

    No, they are preprocessing directives like #line or #error. They are not considered as keywords. You can have pretty much variables like int line or int error.

    Upvotes: 4

    Related Questions