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From: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: net.lang.c
Subject: Re: Enums
Message-ID: <18@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 7-Oct-85 02:29:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.18
Posted: Mon Oct  7 02:29:11 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 8-Oct-85 03:45:07 EDT
References: <118@mit-hector.UUCP> <2792@sun.uucp> <173@myriasa.UUCP> <57@opus.UUCP> <811@rlvd.UUCP> <179@myrias.UUCP>
Reply-To: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin)
Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 13


Allowing the programmer to specify the actual values for enums is a very
important feature in systems programming.  In many areas, one is handed
a protocol or device specification and one must write a driver.  The
specs usually contain arbitrary sets of values for some fields.  It is
very attractive to be able to use enums for these fields.  #defined
constants could be used, as they would have been before enums were added
to the language, but enums were invented to reduce the need for such
untyped constants.
-- 
    Barry Margolin
    ARPA: barmar@MIT-Multics
    UUCP: ..!genrad!mit-eddie!barmar