Dystopian Code: Using Enumerations in ANSI C

In ANSI C, a enumeration is a collection of integer constants which share something in common. The enumeration is somewhat of an analogy to a set. Also, enumerations are a better alternative than a group of macrodefinitions.

They can be declared as:

#include<stdio.h>

enum Color
{
   RED ,
   GREEN ,
   BLUE ,
};

int main(void)
{
   printf("RED = %d\nGREEN = %d\nBLUE = %d",RED,GREEN,BLUE);
   return 0;
}
/*Output:
RED = 0
GREEN = 1
BLUE = 2
*/

The constant RED will be initialized by default with 0, GREEN will be initialized with RED+1 (1) and BLUE will be initialized with (GREEN+1).
Using macrodefinitions, the program above would've looked like this:

#include<stdio.h>

#define RED   0
#define GREEN 1
#define BLUE  2

int main(void)
{
   printf("RED = %d\nGREEN = %d\nBLUE = %d",RED,GREEN,BLUE);
   return 0;
}
/*Output:
RED = 0
GREEN = 1
BLUE = 2
*/

Alternatively, if you initialize the enumeration in this way:

#include<stdio.h>

enum Color
{
   RED = 5,
   GREEN,
   BLUE,
};

int main(void)
{
   printf("RED = %d\nGREEN = %d\nBLUE = %d",RED,GREEN,BLUE);
   return 0;
}
/*Output:
RED = 5
GREEN = 6
BLUE = 7
*/

The constant RED will be initialized with 5, GREEN will be initialized with RED+1 (6) and BLUE will be initialized with GREEN+1 (7).
TIP: You can can also initialize all members of the enumeration with non-default values:

#include<stdio.h>

enum Color
{
   RED = 5,
   GREEN = 7,
   BLUE = 3,
};

int main(void)
{
   printf("RED = %d\nGREEN = %d\nBLUE = %d",RED,GREEN,BLUE);
   return 0;
}
/*Output:
RED = 5
GREEN = 7
BLUE = 3
*/

TIP: If you don't initialize the first member of the enumeration, he will be equal to 0 by default even if you initialize other members:

#include<stdio.h>

enum Color
{
   RED ,
   GREEN ,
   BLUE =7,
};

int main(void)
{
   printf("RED = %d\nGREEN = %d\nBLUE = %d",RED,GREEN,BLUE);
   return 0;
}
/*Output:
RED = 0
GREEN = 1
BLUE = 7
*/

If you want to declare a Color variable you will have to put the keyword enum in front of it:

#include<stdio.h>

enum Color
{
   RED ,
   GREEN ,
   BLUE =7,
};

int main(void)
{
   enum Color myColor = RED;
   switch(myColor)
   {
      case RED:
           puts("My color is red");
           break;
      case GREEN:
           puts("My color is green");
           break;
      case BLUE:
           puts("My color is blue");
           break;
   }
   return 0;
}
/*Output:
My color is red
*/

Alternatively, if you want a shorter declaration you could use typedef:

#include<stdio.h>

enum Color
{
   RED ,
   GREEN ,
   BLUE =7,
};

typedef enum Color eColor;

int main(void)
{
   eColor myColor = RED;
   switch(myColor)
   {
      case RED:
           puts("My color is red");
           break;
      case GREEN:
           puts("My color is green");
           break;
      case BLUE:
           puts("My color is blue");
           break;
   }
   return 0;
}
/*Output:
My color is red
*/

TIP: A shorter version of the declaration above is:

#include<stdio.h>

typedef enum
{
   RED ,
   GREEN ,
   BLUE =7,
}eColor;

int main(void)
{
   eColor myColor = RED;
   switch(myColor)
   {
      case RED:
           puts("My color is red");
           break;
      case GREEN:
           puts("My color is green");
           break;
      case BLUE:
           puts("My color is blue");
           break;
   }
   return 0;
}
/*Output:
My color is red
*/

TIP: Also, multiple members of an enumeration can have the same constant value:

#include<stdio.h>

typedef enum
{
   RED    = 0,
   GREEN  = 1,
   BLUE    =1,
}eColor;

int main(void)
{
   puts("This WILL NOT trigger an error");
   printf("RED = %d\nGREEN = %d\nBLUE = %d",RED,GREEN,BLUE);
   return 0;
}
/*Output
This WILL NOT trigger an error
RED = 0
GREEN = 1
BLUE = 1
*/

TIP: A debugger may be able to print values of enumeration variables in their symbolic form.

PITFALL: A common error that you may encounter while working with enumeration is the enumerator redeclaration as in the example below.

#include<stdio.h>

typedef enum
{
   RED    = 0,
   GREEN  = 1,
   BLUE    =1,
}CarColor;

typedef enum
{
    RED,        //RED is redeclarated
    YELLOW,
    MAGENDA
}WallColor;

int main(void)
{
   puts("This WILL NOT trigger an error");
   printf("RED = %d\nGREEN = %d\nBLUE = %d",RED,GREEN,BLUE);
   return 0;
}
/*Output
../main.c:20:5: error: redeclaration of enumerator ‘RED’
*/

TIP : The easiest way to solve such an issue is to adopt the following notation for enumerators: EnumName_EnumeratorDescription.

#include<stdio.h>

typedef enum
{
   CARCOLOR_RED    = 0,
   CARCOLOR_GREEN  = 1,
   CARCOLOR_BLUE   = 1,
}CarColor;

typedef enum
{
   WALLCOLOR_RED,        
   WALLCOLOR_YELLOW,
   WALLCOLOR_MAGENTA
}WallColor;

int main(void)
{
   printf("RED = %d\nGREEN = %d\nBLUE = %d",
           CARCOLOR_RED,CARCOLOR_GREEN,CARCOLOR_BLUE);
   return 0;
}
/*Output
RED = 0
GREEN = 1
BLUE = 1
*/