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Chapter 10. The C++ Preprocessor
The first C compilers had no constants or inline functions. When C was still being developed, it soon became apparent that it needed a facility for handling named constants, macros, and include files. The solution was to create a preprocessor that is run on the programs before they are passed to the C compiler. The preprocessor is nothing more than a specialized text editor. Its syntax is completely different from C's, and it has no understanding of C constructs. It is merely a dumb text editor. The preprocessor was soon merged into the main C compiler. The C++ compiler kept this preprocessor. On some systems, such as Unix, it is still a separate program, automatically executed by the compiler wrapper cc. Some of the newer compilers, such as Borland-C++ Builder, have the preprocessor built in. |
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