DCL06-A. Use meaningful symbolic constants to represent literal values in program logic

Avoid the use of magic numbers in code when possible. Magic numbers are constant values that represent an arbitrary value, such as a determined appropriate buffer size, or a malleable concept such as the age a person is considered an adult, which could change from one location to another. Rather, use appropriately named symbolic constants clarify the intent of the code. In addition, if a specific value needs to be changed reassigning a symbolic constant once is more efficient and less error prone then replacing every instance of the value to be changed.

Non Compliant Code Example

The meaning of the numeric literal 18 is not clear in this example.

/* // ... */
if (age >= 18) {
   /* Take action */
}
else {
  /* Take a different action */
}
/* // ... */

Compliant Solution

The compliant solution replaces 18 with the symbolic constant ADULT_AGE to clarify the meaning of the code.

When declaring immutable symbolic values, such as ADULT_AGE it is best to declare them as a constant in accordance with [[DCL00-A. Declare immutable values using const or enum]].

enum { ADULT_AGE=18 };
/* // ... */
if (age >= ADULT_AGE) {
   /* Take action */
}
else {
  /* Take a different action */
}
/* // ... */

Exceptions

While replacing numeric constants with a symbolic constant is often a good practice, it can be taken too far. Exceptions can be made for constants that are themselves the abstraction you want to represent, as in this compliant solution.

x = (-b + sqrt(b*b - 4*a*c)) / (2*a);

Replacing numeric constants with symbolic constants in this example does nothing to improve the readability of the code, and may in fact make the code more difficult to read:

enum { TWO = 2 };     /* a scalar */
enum { FOUR = 4 };    /* a scalar */
enum { SQUARE = 2 };  /* an exponent */
x = (-b + sqrt(pow(b, SQUARE) - FOUR*a*c))/ (TWO * a);

When implementing recommendations it is always necessary to use sound judgment.

Risk Assessment

Using numeric literals makes code more difficult to read and understand. Buffer overruns are frequently a consequence of a magic number being changed in one place (like an array declaration) but not elsewhere (like a loop through an array).

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

References

http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/lab/cplus/c++.rules/chap10.html
[[ISO/IEC 9899-1999]] Section 6.7, "Declarations"