Better Enums  

Reflective compile-time enum library with clean syntax, in a single header
file, and without dependencies.

In C++11, everything can be used at compile time. You can convert your enums,
loop over them, find their max,
statically enforce conventions, and pass along the results as
template arguments or to constexpr functions. All the reflection is available
for your metaprogramming needs.

The interface is the same for C98 — you just have to use most of it at
run time only. This library does provide scoped and sized enums, something not
built into C98.

See the project page for full documentation.

Installation

Simply add enum.h to your project.

Additional features

• Uses only standard C++, though, for C++98, variadic macro support is required
  (major compilers have it).
• Supported and tested on clang, gcc, and msvc.
• Fast compilation. You have to declare a few dozen enums to slow down your
  compiler as much as only including iostream does.
• Use any initializers and sparse ranges, just like with a built-in enum.
• Control over size and alignment — you choose the representation type.
• Stream operators.
• Does not use the heap and can be compiled with exceptions disabled, for use in
  minimal freestanding environments.

Limitations

1. The biggest limitation is that the BETTER_ENUM macro can’t be used inside a
   class. This seems difficult to remove. There is a workaround with
   typedef (or C++11 using):

   BETTER_ENUM(SomePrefix_Color, uint8_t, Red, Green, Blue)
   
   struct triplet {
       typedef SomePrefix_Color    Color;
       Color                       r, g, b;
   };
   
   triplet::Color  color;
   

   You can, however, use BETTER_ENUM inside a namespace.

2. The macro has a soft limit of 64 declared constants. You can extend it by
   following these instructions. Ultimately, the number of constants is
   limited by your compiler’s maximum macro argument count.

3. In some cases, it is necessary to prefix constants such as Channel::Red with a
   + to explicitly promote them to type Channel. For example, if you are doing
   a comparison:

   channel == +Channel::Red
   

4. On msvc, you may need to enable warning C4062 to get switch case exhaustiveness checking.

History

The original version of the library was developed by the author in the winter of
2012-2013 at Hudson River Trading, as a replacement for an older generator
called BETTER_ENUM.