static const vs #define

Question

Is it better to use static const vars than #define preprocessor? Or maybe it depends on the context?

What are advantages/disadvantages for

Answer 1

#define can lead to unexpected results:

#include 

#define x 500
#define y x + 5

int z = y * 2;

int main()
{
    std::cout << "y is " << y;
    std::cout << "\nz is " << z;
}

Outputs an incorrect result:

y is 505
z is 510

However, if you replace this with constants:

#include 

const int x = 500;
const int y = x + 5;

int z = y * 2;

int main()
{
    std::cout << "y is " << y;
    std::cout << "\nz is " << z;
}

It outputs the correct result:

y is 505
z is 1010

This is because #define simply replaces the text. Because doing this can seriously mess up order of operations, I would recommend using a constant variable instead.