syntax error : missing ']' before ';' Array declaration error in C

Question

i am writing in c, using Visual c++.

The compiler gives me the errors with the code below:

#define SIZE 3;
int myMatrix[SIZE][SIZE];
void funcMatrix(int M[SIZE][SIZE]);

The errors i get:

error C2143: syntax error : missing ']' before ';' 
error C2059: syntax error : ']'

Ive tried declaring the constant differently, inside main and outside. It still doesn't work. Would really appreciate it if someone can help me out...

Answer 1

You should use #define SIZE 3.

Preprocessor works as a raw string substitution, so with #define SIZE 3; your SIZE is replaced with 3; and you get:

int myMatrix[3;][3;];
void funcMatrix(int M[3;][3;]);

as a final result, hence the errors. This is a common error, then you get used to place ; at the end of C expression. However the preprocessor #define-s are not C code actually, but a simple (or not so simple) string processing operation which occurs before compilation.