Is it a good idea to apply some basic macros to simplify code in a large project?

Question

I've been working on a foundational c++ library for some time now, and there are a variety of ideas I've had that could really simplify the code writing and managing process. One of these is the concept of introducing some macros to help simplify statements that appear very often, but are a bit more complicated than should be necessary.

For example, I've come up with this basic macro to simplify the most common type of for loop:

#define loop(v,n) for(unsigned long v=0; v<n; ++v)

This would enable you to replace those clunky for loops you see so much of:

for (int i = 0; i < max_things; i++)

With something much easier to write, and even slightly more efficient:

loop (i, max_things)

Is it a good idea to use conventions like this? Are there any problems you might run into with different types of compilers? Would it just be too confusing for someone unfamiliar with the macro(s)?

Answer 1

IMHO this is generally a bad idea. You are essentially changing well known and understood syntax to something of your own invention. Before long you may find that you have re-invented the language. :)

Answer 2

No, not a good idea.

  int max = 23;
  loop(i, ++max)...

It is, however, a good idea to refactor commonly used code into reusable components and then reuse instead of copy. You should do this through writing functions similar to the standard algorithms like std::find(). For instance:

template < typename Function >
void loop(size_t count, Function f)
{
  for (size_t i = 0; i < count, ++i) f();
}

This is a much safer approach:

int max = 23;
loop(++max, boost::bind(....));