Difference between Enum and Define Statements

Question

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 exampl

Answer 1

Enums are generally prefered over #define wherever it makes sense to use an enum:

• Debuggers can show you the symbolic name of an enums value ("openType: OpenExisting", rather than "openType: 2"
• You get a bit more protection from name clashes, but this isn't as bad as it was (most compilers warn about re#defineition.

The biggest difference is that you can use enums as types:

// Yeah, dumb example
enum OpenType {
    OpenExisting,
    OpenOrCreate,
    Truncate
};

void OpenFile(const char* filename, OpenType openType, int bufferSize);

This gives you type-checking of parameters (you can't mix up openType and bufferSize as easily), and makes it easy to find what values are valid, making your interfaces much easier to use. Some IDEs can even give you intellisense code completion!