#define max(a,b) \
({ typeof (a) _a = (a); \
typeof (b) _b = (b); \
_a > _b ? _a : _b; })
Why not simply (a>b ? a : b)
?
because otherwhise max(f(1), f(2))
would call one of the two functions twice:
f(1) > f(2) ? f(1) : f(2)
instead by "caching" the two values in _a
and _b
you have
({
sometype _a = (a);
sometype _b = (b);
_a > _b ? _a : _b;
})
(and clearly as other have pointed out, there is the same problem with autoincrement/autodecrement)
I don't think this is supported by Visual Studio in this way. This is a compound statement. Read here does msvc have analog of gcc's ({ })
I'll add that the definition of compound statement in the gcc manual given here http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-2.95.3/gcc_4.html#SEC62 shows a code VERY similar to the one of the question for max :-)