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defines are handled by a preprocessor (a program run before the actual c compiler) which works like replace all in you editor. Typedef is handled by the c compiler itself, and is an actual definition of a new type. The distinction given between #define and typedef has one significant error: typedef does not in fact create a new type. According to Kernighan & Richie, the authors of the authoritative and universally acclaimed book, "The C Programming Language": It must be emphasized that a typedef declaration does not create a new type in any sense; it merely adds a new name for some existing type. Nor are there any new semantics: variables declared this way have exactly the same properties as variables whose declarations are spelled out explicitly. In effect, typedef is like #define, except that since it is interpreted by the compiler, it can cope with textual substitutions that are beyond the capabilities of the preprocessor. There are some more subtleties though. The type defined with a typedef is exactly like its counterpart as far as its type declaring power is concerned BUT it cannot be modified like its counterpart. For example, let's say you define a synonim for the int type with: typedef int MYINT Now you can declare an int variable either with int a; or MYINT a; But you cannot declare an unsigned int (using the unsigned modifier) with unsigned MYINT a; although unsigned int a; would be perfectly acceptable. typedefs can correctly encode pointer types.where as #DEFINES are just replacements done by the preprocessor. For example, # typedef char *String_t; # #define String_d char * # String_t s1, s2; String_d s3, s4; s1, s2, and s3 are all declared as char *, but s4 is declared as a char, which is probably not the intention. typedef also allows to delcare arrays, # typedef char char_arr[]; # char_arr my_arr = "Hello World!\n"; This is equal to

# char my_arr[] = "Hello World!\n"; This may lead to obfuscated code when used too much, but when used correctly it is extremely useful to make code more compat and easier to read.

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12y ago

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