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c++cenumsc-preprocessor

Difference between Enum and Define Statements

What's the difference between using a define statement and an enum statement in C/C++ (and is there any difference when using them with either C or C++)?

For example, when should one use

enum {BUFFER = 1234};

over

#define BUFFER 1234
Solution

  • enum defines a syntactical element.

    #define is a pre-preprocessor directive, executed before the compiler sees the code, and therefore is not a language element of C itself.

    Generally enums are preferred as they are type-safe and more easily discoverable. Defines are harder to locate and can have complex behavior, for example one piece of code can redefine a #define made by another. This can be hard to track down.