Exceptional C++ Style 40 New Engineering Puzzles, Programming Problems, and Solutions

Chapter 28. Keywords That Aren't (or, Comments by Another Name)

Difficulty: 3

All keywords are equal (to the parser), but some are more equal than others. In this Item, we see why reserving keywords is important, because keywords are important and special. But we'll also see two keywords that have absolutely no semantic impact on a C++ program.

JG Question

1. Why do most programming languages have reserved keywords, words that programs are not allowed to use?

Guru Question

1. How does adding the keyword auto alter the semantics of a C++ program?

2. How does adding the keyword register alter the semantics of a C++ program?

Solution

Why Have Keywords?

It's important for the C++ language to have keywords that are reserved to the language itself and that can't be used ...