difference between a C++ macro MAX and the C++ template

[Aakash Jain]

Can someone explain me the difference between the following C++ macro
and the function MAX:

#define MAX(a, b) (((a) > (b)) ? (a) : (b))

template <class T>
const T& MAX(const T& a, const T& b)
{
return (a > b ? a : b);
}

Some of the differences I beleive are that the macro is expanded
inline by the preprocessor, unlike the fucntion MAX? Any other
differences? Can the two basically be used interchangably, or would
one be used over the other for certain applications?

Thanks in advance.

Aakash

 

[Christopher Benson-Manica]

Some of the differences I beleive are that the macro is expanded
inline by the preprocessor, unlike the fucntion MAX? Any other
differences? Can the two basically be used interchangably, or would
one be used over the other for certain applications?

Thought exercise:

int i=0, j=2;
MAX(i++,j++);

What's the difference?

 

[David Harmon]

On 13 Apr 2004 10:50:58 -0700 in comp.lang.c++, (e-mail address removed)
(Aakash Jain) wrote,

Can someone explain me the difference between the following C++ macro
and the function MAX:

#define MAX(a, b) (((a) > (b)) ? (a) : (b))

template <class T>
const T& MAX(const T& a, const T& b)
{
return (a > b ? a : b);
}

1. Pass MAX as a function argument to another function, e.g.
// make all numbers non-negative
std::transform(v.begin(), v.end(), v.begin(),
std::bind2nd(MAX<double>, 0.0));

2. Define a class with a private member function that happens
to be named MAX.

3. Try to solve the problems with (1) and (2) by making MAX
a member of a namespace.