Inline functions vs Preprocessor macros

Question

How does an inline function differ from a preprocessor macro?

Answer 1

inline functions are similar to macros (because the function code is expanded at the point of the call at compile time), inline functions are parsed by the compiler, whereas macros are expanded by the preprocessor. As a result, there are several important differences:

• Inline functions follow all the protocols of type safety enforced on normal functions.
• Inline functions are specified using the same syntax as any other function except that they include the inline keyword in the function declaration.
• Expressions passed as arguments to inline functions are evaluated once.

• In some cases, expressions passed as arguments to macros can be evaluated more than once. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bf6bf4cf.aspx

• macros are expanded at pre-compile time, you cannot use them for debugging, but you can use inline functions.

-- good article: http://www.codeguru.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1093923&postcount=1

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