CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++arduinomacros
bask185
bask185

Reputation: 397

Why does arduino uses macros for certain 'functions' like min(), max(), constrain()?

Though I am a fan of macros in general, I am not getting why the Arduino makers chose to use macros instead of actual functions for some of their arithmatic "functions". To name a few examples:

min()
max()
constrain()

Their website informs one not to call functions from within these "functions" or to use pre/postfix inside the brackets() because they are actually macros.

Considering the arduino language is actually C++, they could have easily used (inline) functions instead and prevent any user from falling in one of the well known macro pitfalls.

People usually do things for reasons. And so far I have not found these reasons. So my qeustion: why did the Arduino makers chose to use macro's instead of functions?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 261

Answers (1)

hcheung
hcheung

Reputation: 4034

Arduino is built based on much older codes and libraries such as AVR-libc where macros are used extensively way before Arduino even existed.

In modern programming, macros are not recommended (versus inline functions) as it does not do type checking, does not check compile errors and if not craft carefully could lead to some side-effects.

Upvotes: 1

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