In that case it's just to convert the value of a macro into a string constant
cat > a.c
#define X(s) #s
#define S(s) X(s)
char *f(void) return { S(A); }
^D
cc -E a.c
char *f(void) return { "A"; }
cc -DA=B -E a.c
char *f(void) return { "B"; }
More interestingly, you can use this trick to create code where some user-specified word appears as a string and as the name of the function. Exercice: write a macro M(x) such that compiling the code M(foo)
M(bar)
results in void print_foo(void) { puts("foo"); }
voir print_bar(void) { puts("bar"); }
> you can use this trick to create code where some user-specified word appears as a string and as the name of the function
Ah, the poor man's introspection and reflection with C macros.
shudder