Linxutopia - Thinking in C++ - 2: Making & Using Objects

Thinking in C++
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Character array concatenation

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An important feature of the C preprocessor is character array concatenation. This feature is used in some of the examples in this book. If two quoted character arrays are adjacent, and no punctuation is between them, the compiler will paste the character arrays together into a single character array. This is particularly useful when code listings have width restrictions:

//: C02:Concat.cpp
// Character array Concatenation
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
  cout << "This is far too long to put on a "
    "single line but it can be broken up with "
    "no ill effects\nas long as there is no "
    "punctuation separating adjacent character "
    "arrays.\n";
} ///:~

At first, the code above can look like an error because there’s no familiar semicolon at the end of each line. Remember that C and C++ are free-form languages, and although you’ll usually see a semicolon at the end of each line, the actual requirement is for a semicolon at the end of each statement, and it’s possible for a statement to continue over several lines.

Thinking in C++
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