Lesson 3: The use and declaration of constants.

This lesson will show you how to:

• Use constants in C
• Declare constants in C
• the #define directive
• the keyword const

Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a bucket of shit?
A: The bucket.

A constant is similar to a variable in the sense that it represents a memory location (or simply, a value). It is different from a normal variable, as I sure you can guess, in that it cannot change it's value in the proram - it must stay for ever stay constant. In general, constants are a useful because they can prevent program bugs and logical errors(errors are explained later). Unintended modifications are prevented from occurring. The compiler will catch attempts to reassign new values to constants.

Using #define
There are three techniques used to define constants in C. First, constants may be defined using the preprocessor directive (the preprocessor-directives are explained in summary guide 1 in the advanced user category - don't be scared - they are very easy to understand) #define. The preprocessor is a program that modifies your source file prior to compilation. Common preprocessor directives are #include, which is used to include additional code into your source file, #define, which is used to define a constant. The standard is that constants are always in uppercase whereas normal variables are in lowercase - you don't have to follow this convention - it just makes things easier. Remember that this statement must not contain a semi-colon, and must not contain the assignment operator (in english it is equals, =). The #define directive is used as follows:

#define ID_NO 12345

Wherever the constant appears in your source file, the preprocessor replaces it by its value. So, for instance, every "pi" in your source code will be replace by 3.1415. The compiler will only see the value 3.1415 in your code, not "pi". Every "pi" is just replaced by its value. Here is a simple program illustrating the preprocessor directive #define.

#include <stdio.h>

#define MONDAY 1
#define TUESDAY 2
#define WEDNESDAY 3
#define THURSDAY 4
#define FRIDAY 5
#define SATURDAY 6
#define SUNDAY 7

int main(void)
{

    int today = MONDAY;

    if ((today == SATURDAY) || (today == SUNDAY))
    {
        printf("Weekend\n");
    }
    else
    {
        printf("Go to work or school\n");
    }

    return 0;
}

Don't worry if you don't understand this program, just look at it's basic structure that's all. All will be revealed. Good things come to those who wait!

How do you know if a woman is about to say something smart?
    When she starts her sentence with something like "A man once told me..."

Using const variables
The second technique is to use the keyword const when defining a variable. When used the compiler will catch attempts to modify variables that have been declared const.

const float pi = 3.1415;
const int id_no = 12345;

There are two main advantages over the first technique. First, the type of the constant is defined. "pi" is float. "id_no" is int. This allows some type checking by the compiler. Second, these constants are variables with a definite scope. The scope of a variable relates to parts of your program in which it is defined. Some variables may exist only in certain functions or in certain blocks of code. You may want to use "id_no" in one function and a completely unrelated "id_no" in your main program. Sorry if this is confusing, the scope of variables will be covered in a latter lesson.

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