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Comment by telemachos | Hacker News Reader

> ꙮ I always use enum instead of #define for numeric constants.

I'm new to C (and very much a self-taught amateur), but what's the advantage of this? (No snark - I just don't see it.)

I have a file at hand with this:

    #define MAXLINE 512

How would that be improved by putting it in an enum instead?

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The advantage is smallest for things like that, which you'd put in a nameless enum. To my eyes, there's still a better signal-to-noise ratio in

    max_line = 512,

than in

    #define MAXLINE 512

but I agree that the difference is small. In some cases, your code is more readable if you can define more than one constant per line, and the difference becomes larger:

    min_x = 20,          min_y = 20,
    max_x = 8.5*72 - 20, max_y = 11*72 - 20,

Beyond that, non-anonymous enums have the additional advantages that you can define them closer to where they're used, and the debugger knows how to print them.

the debugger knows how to print them.

I just want to emphasize this point, as this is the main advantage in my eyes.

It's a pretty big advantage when it applies, but it doesn't apply to the MAXLINE case, and it only applies when you're using a debugger. Which, for me, is very rarely.

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