Using macro statement in macro function in C

November 11, 2021

Using #ifdef <macro> <statement> #endif allows one to have verbose messages displayed only during development and is quite handy. I wonder if something like the code below is possible, becoming even shorter:

// pseudo-code:

#define IN_DEV
#define DEBUG_ONLY(statement) (#ifdef IN_DEV (statement) #endif)

int main(void)
{
   DEBUG_ONLY(printf("hello from debug mode\n");)
   //...
}

This would only cost me a very readable one-liner which can be turned on or off. Is something like this / close to this possible?

>Solution :

You could change the meaning of DEBUG_ONLY dependent on if IN_DEV is defined:

// pseudo-code:

#ifdef IN_DEV
#define DEBUG_ONLY(statement) {statement}
#else
#define DEBUG_ONLY(statement) // Nothing
#endif

int main(void)
{
   DEBUG_ONLY(printf("hello from debug mode\n");)
   //...
}

Running example: Link