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#define CUBE(I) ( (I) * (I) * (I) )
int a = 81 / CUBE(2 + 1);

Exceptions

PRE01-C-EX1: When the parameter names are surrounded by commas in the replacement text, regardless of how complicated the actual arguments are, there is no need for parenthesizing the macro parameters. Because commas have lower precedence than any other operator, there is no chance of the actual arguments being parsed in a surprising way. Comma separators, which separate arguments in a function call, also have lower precedence than other operators, although they are technically different from comma operators.

#define FOO(a, b, c) bar(a, b, c)
/* ... */
FOO(arg1, arg2, arg3);

PRE01-C-EX2: Macro parameters cannot be individually parenthesized when concatenating tokens using the ## operator, converting macro parameters to strings using the # operator, or concatenating adjacent string literals. The following JOIN() macro concatenates both arguments to form a new token. The SHOW() macro converts the single argument into a string literal, which is then passed as a parameter to printf() and as a string and as a parameter to the %d specifier. For example, if SHOW() is invoked as SHOW(66);, the macro would be expanded to printf("66" " = %d\n", 66);.

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Failing to parenthesize the parameter names in a macro can result in unintended program behavior.

Automated Detection

Related Vulnerabilities

Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.

Related Guidelines

Bibliography

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