#define macro for debug printing in C?

Question

Trying to create a macro which can be used for print debug messages when DEBUG is defined, like the following pseudo code:

#define DEBUG 1
#define debug_prin         


        

Answer 1

I believe this variation of the theme gives debug categories without the need to have a separate macro name per category.

I used this variation in an Arduino project where program space is limited to 32K and dynamic memory is limited to 2K. The addition of debug statements and trace debug strings quickly uses up space. So it is essential to be able to limit the debug trace that is included at compile time to the minimum necessary each time the code is built.

debug.h

#ifndef DEBUG_H
#define DEBUG_H

#define PRINT(DEBUG_CATEGORY, VALUE)  do { if (DEBUG_CATEGORY & DEBUG_MASK) Serial.print(VALUE);} while (0);

#endif

calling .cpp file

#define DEBUG_MASK 0x06
#include "Debug.h"

...
PRINT(4, "Time out error,\t");
...