Re: Is there a parameter called _DEBUG?

[Lin George <george4academic at yahoo dot com>]

Thank you John!


Do you mean _DEBUG is not defined and used by gcc
itself on Linux platform and it may be used in
application code (especially the ones from Microsoft
Windows platform)?


regards,
George

--- John Love-Jensen <eljay@adobe.com> wrote:

> Hi George,
> 
> The _DEBUG define is (as far as I am aware) a
> Microsoft-ism convention.
> Some people have taken that convention to heart, and
> rely upon it in their
> own environments -- even non-Microsoft environments.
> 
> For debug builds, the _DEBUG is defined.  Caution: 
> in C++, _DEBUG is a
> reserved identifier, use at your own peril. 
> (Microsoft legitimately uses it
> in their compiler, since those kind of identifiers
> are reserved for the
> compiler vendor to use as they see fit.)
> 
> For non-debug builds (release builds), the NDEBUG is
> defined.  Note:  NDEBUG
> has a long history in C.  Look at the "assert.h"
> header.  I believe NDEBUG
> is used on every platform that supports C/C++.  If
> an "NDEBUG" symbol were
> to be introduced today, it would be _NDEBUG, but
> because of its provenance,
> it is NDEBUG.
> 
> I recommend using the presence or absence of NDEBUG
> as the trigger for code
> that is release (#ifdef NDEBUG) or debug (#ifndef
> NDEBUG).  Even thought I
> have a bit of distaste for "#ifndef NDEBUG" because
> of the double-negative
> makes my tiny little brain hurt.
> 
> HTH,
> --Eljay
> 
> 


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