Thread: #define private public

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Posts
    221

    #define private public

    does anyone else notice this works?

    make a class with private fields, and include the define
    then you can access the private fields no problem from outside the class. i thought private was a protected keyword....?

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Posts
    311
    It's a macro, macros are evil, the pre-processor knows nothing of C or C++

  3. #3
    Disturbed Boy gustavosserra's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Posts
    244
    It is, but how said grib the preprocessor is who cares about macros. To the preprocessor there are no keywords. He simply changes words...
    Nothing more to tell about me...
    Happy day =)

  4. #4
    Toaster Zach L.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    2,686
    The preprocessor doesn't care about the C++ language. It is in fact, run before the compiler. Basically, what your #define does is tells the preprocessor to look up every instance of the string 'private' and replace it with the string 'public' in your code. You can do ridiculous things with it. For example:
    Code:
    #define class int
    
    class main(class argc, char** argv) {
      ...
    }
    As you can see, ridiculous. Avoid that sort of thing in programs. It will only make your life harder when you start getting errors on code that seems (and in fact is) correct because a substitution was being made before the code was compiled.
    The word rap as it applies to music is the result of a peculiar phonological rule which has stripped the word of its initial voiceless velar stop.

  5. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    28
    At first I thought that coding this would be absurd, but believe it or not, this actually came in handy today! What could possibly make "#define private public" useful, you ask?

    Unit testing! I had to unit test a class, and one public method that I was testing results in a member variable of an object changing. There's no way of testing that the method was successful, without directly verifying that this private member variable was updated to the new value I was expecting.

    So all I did was #define private public, and now I can check the member variable directly! The #define is in the unit test itself, so it of course doesn't affect any "real" code.

    And to think that I've actually seen people declare their unit test classes as friends of the class they're testing - just to make unit testing easier. Well, now they don't have to with this trick - which is certainly better than changes to the actual code being tested.

    Just
    "C++ is like jamming a helicopter inside a Miata and expecting some sort of improvement."
    - Drew Olbrich

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    1,619
    Originally posted by Just
    At first I thought that coding this would be absurd, but believe it or not, this actually came in handy today! What could possibly make "#define private public" useful, you ask?

    Unit testing! I had to unit test a class, and one public method that I was testing results in a member variable of an object changing. There's no way of testing that the method was successful, without directly verifying that this private member variable was updated to the new value I was expecting.

    So all I did was #define private public, and now I can check the member variable directly! The #define is in the unit test itself, so it of course doesn't affect any "real" code.

    And to think that I've actually seen people declare their unit test classes as friends of the class they're testing - just to make unit testing easier. Well, now they don't have to with this trick - which is certainly better than changes to the actual code being tested.

    Just
    I prefer just to put my publics first, then I can just comment out the private: line when I want to expose my privates to the world.
    You ever try a pink golf ball, Wally? Why, the wind shear on a pink ball alone can take the head clean off a 90 pound midget at 300 yards.

  7. #7
    Disturbed Boy gustavosserra's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Posts
    244
    For big projects coud be useful. However, the private should be used to avoid unpredictable changes, the programmer should be able to control these variables.
    Nothing more to tell about me...
    Happy day =)

  8. #8
    Registered User major_small's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    2,787
    I can see it usefull only when you can see the header and not the .cpp part of the class, but then again all you need to do is comment out the private: line... then again it would seem interesting to have your co-workers start asking why you're directly accessing the private data members of the class without using any methods
    Join is in our Unofficial Cprog IRC channel
    Server: irc.phoenixradio.org
    Channel: #Tech


    Team Cprog Folding@Home: Team #43476
    Download it Here
    Detailed Stats Here
    More Detailed Stats
    52 Members so far, are YOU a member?
    Current team score: 1223226 (ranked 374 of 45152)

    The CBoard team is doing better than 99.16% of the other teams
    Top 5 Members: Xterria(518175), pianorain(118517), Bennet(64957), JaWiB(55610), alphaoide(44374)

    Last Updated on: Wed, 30 Aug, 2006 @ 2:30 PM EDT

  9. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Posts
    311
    Making your tests friends emphasises that your tests are actually part of the program rather than truely independant. You already have the problem that you have two classes of privates, those that are implementation details and those that are requrements. You still want the protection that no-one but methods and friends are modifying a particluar private, but that private is no longer just the buisness of the class. I would probably do something like.

    Code:
    #ifdef WHITE_TEST
    #define requirement public
    #else
    #define requirement private
    #endif
    
    class stuffotron {
        char* buffer;
    requirement:
        int size;
    public:
        ...
    };
    This way it's clear that a programmer can modify stuffotron to use a vector as it's means of keeping a buffer, but that even if you did so, you still have the responsibilty to keep track of size independantly, and that size must be a signed int.

    You also want even whitebox testing to be as simmular to your release canidate as possible.

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    28
    Originally posted by Cat
    I prefer just to put my publics first, then I can just comment out the private: line when I want to expose my privates to the world.
    Originally posted by major_small
    I can see it usefull only when you can see the header and not the .cpp part of the class, but then again all you need to do is comment out the private: line... then again it would seem interesting to have your co-workers start
    But the beauty of this is that actual code doesn't need to be touched at all. Yes, you could comment out the private: line, but that creates other problems. What happens when I check in my unit tests into a CVS server, and someone (manager/team leader) checks them out and expects to see my unit tests passing? The tests will fail because they won't know to change the actual code.

    That, and actually editing "real" code (whether it's commenting out "private:", or making the tester class a friend) just for the purposes of unit tests doesn't sit well with me.

    Just
    "C++ is like jamming a helicopter inside a Miata and expecting some sort of improvement."
    - Drew Olbrich

  11. #11
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    135

    Re: #define private public

    Originally posted by revelation437
    does anyone else notice this works?

    make a class with private fields, and include the define
    then you can access the private fields no problem from outside the class. i thought private was a protected keyword....?
    "public" and "private" are keywords in C++. I don't think it's legal to use them in macros.

  12. #12
    Registered User Codeplug's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    4,981

    Re: Re: #define private public

    Originally posted by Omnius
    "public" and "private" are keywords in C++. I don't think it's legal to use them in macros.
    Hmmmm.
    I usually read the thread before posting.

    gg

  13. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    135

    Re: Re: Re: #define private public

    Originally posted by Codeplug
    Hmmmm.
    I usually read the thread before posting.

    gg
    That's a good habit, Codeplug. I do the same thing myself. If you have a point to make, please make it. If I missed something I'll be glad to hold my hands up and say so.

  14. #14
    Registered User Codeplug's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    4,981
    I assumed your definition of "legal" as "being able to compile".
    And by that definition, it is perfectly legal.

    gg

  15. #15
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    135
    Originally posted by Codeplug
    I assumed your definition of "legal" as "being able to compile".
    And by that definition, it is perfectly legal.

    gg
    That depends on your definition of "being able to compile" - whether that's according to the C++ standard or compiler XYZ. In this case, if the C++ standard does forbid the redefinition of keywords using macros, then such code would be ill-formed and the compiler would be required to issue a diagnostic.

Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed

Similar Threads

  1. Reading Process Memory
    By polydegmon in forum C# Programming
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-26-2009, 07:18 AM
  2. Help me with function call
    By NeMewSys in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 05-22-2008, 01:53 PM
  3. Replies: 3
    Last Post: 05-13-2007, 08:55 AM
  4. LISP (DrScheme) any one?
    By Jeremy G in forum A Brief History of Cprogramming.com
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 03-31-2004, 12:52 PM
  5. structure vs class
    By sana in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 12-02-2002, 07:18 AM