if and else without braces

Question

I expect the following code to compile. Clang and VC++ both give me an error on the line with else.

void MyFunction(std::int32_t& error) {    std::int32_t variable = 0;    if(GetSomething())       error = EOK;    else       error = ERROR; } 

If I put curly braces around error = EOK;, then it compiles. Why does VC++ say:

illegal else without matching if

?

---

My full code is below, replacing std::uint32_t with a typedef. It still gives the same error in VC++.

using sint32 = int;  #define ERROR 5; #define EOK 0;  bool GetSomething();  void MyFunction(sint32& error) {    sint32 variable = 0;    if (GetSomething())       error = EOK;    else       error = ERROR; } 

Answer 1

If your definition of EOK is as follows:

#define EOK 0;

then it would cause this type of error, because it forcibly terminates the if-statement before the else is reached, making it an else without a matching if. The compiler sees this code after macro replacement:

if(GetSomething())     error = 0;; else 

Answer 2

Here is a possible fix:

enum {     EOK = 0,     ERROR = 5 }; 

Note that all identifiers starting with E followed by either another uppercase letter or a number are reserved for use as macro names by <cerrno>, so to avoid name clashes consider using a different naming convention for your errors.