Strongly Typed Scoped Enumerations

Snippet

Strongly Typed Scoped Enumerations

Scoped enumerations (enum class) prevent name collisions by requiring the enum name as a prefix. Unlike traditional enums, they do not implicitly convert to integers, which enforces type safety and prevents accidental mathematical operations on symbolic constants.

snippet.cpp

cpp

#include <iostream>
 
enum class SecurityLevel {
    Low,
    Medium,
    High
};
 
int main() {
    SecurityLevel current = SecurityLevel::Medium;
 
    // Comparison requires explicit scope
    if (current == SecurityLevel::Medium) {
        std::cout << "Level is balanced." << std::endl;
    }
 
    // Error: int x = current; // No implicit conversion to int
    return 0;
}

Breakdown

enum class SecurityLevel

Declares a scoped enumeration that creates its own namespace for its values.

SecurityLevel::Medium

Accesses the enum value using the scope resolution operator.

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Strongly Typed Scoped Enumerations

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