debugging - __FILE__, __LINE__, and __FUNCTION__ usage in C++

Question

Presuming that your C++ compiler supports them, is there any particular reason not to use __FILE__, __LINE__ and __FUNCTION__ for logging and debugging purposes?

I'm primarily concerned with giving the user misleading data—for example, reporting the incorrect line number or function as a result of optimization—or taking a performance hit as a result.

Basically, can I trust __FILE__, __LINE__ and __FUNCTION__ to always do the right thing?

Answer 1

__FUNCTION__ is non standard, __func__ exists in C99 / C++11. The others (__LINE__ and __FILE__) are just fine.

It will always report the right file and line (and function if you choose to use __FUNCTION__/__func__). Optimization is a non-factor since it is a compile time macro expansion; it will never affect performance in any way.