<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html> <head> <title>Arduino Reference - Const </title> <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="http://arduino.cc/en/favicon.png"> <link rel='stylesheet' href='arduinoWideRender.css' type='text/css' /> <!--HeaderText--><style type='text/css'><!-- ul, ol, pre, dl, p { margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; } code { white-space: nowrap; } .vspace { margin-top:1.33em; } .indent { margin-left:40px; } .outdent { margin-left:40px; text-indent:-40px; } a.createlinktext { text-decoration:none; border-bottom:1px dotted gray; } a.createlink { text-decoration:none; position:relative; top:-0.5em; font-weight:bold; font-size:smaller; border-bottom:none; } img { border:0px; } .editconflict { color:green; font-style:italic; margin-top:1.33em; margin-bottom:1.33em; } table.markup { border: 2px dotted #ccf; width:90%; } td.markup1, td.markup2 { padding-left:10px; padding-right:10px; } td.markup1 { border-bottom: 1px solid #ccf; } div.faq { margin-left:2em; } div.faq p.question { margin: 1em 0 0.75em -2em; font-weight:bold; } div.faq hr { margin-left: -2em; } .frame { border:1px solid #cccccc; padding:4px; background-color:#f9f9f9; } .lfloat { float:left; margin-right:0.5em; } .rfloat { float:right; margin-left:0.5em; } a.varlink { text-decoration:none; } --></style> <meta name='robots' content='index,follow' /> <meta name="verify-v1" content="TtxFIEJAB6zdJ509wLxjnapQzKAMNm9u0Wj4ho6wxIY=" /> </head> <body> <div id="page"> <!--PageHeaderFmt--> <div id="pageheader"> <div class="title"><a href='http://arduino.cc/en'>Arduino</a></div> </div> <!--/PageHeaderFmt--> <!--PageLeftFmt--> <div id="pagenav"> <div id="navbar"> <p><a class='wikilink' href='http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Buy'>Buy</a> <a class='wikilink' href='http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software'>Download</a> <a class='wikilink' href='Guide_index.html'>Getting Started</a> <a class='wikilink' href='http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage'>Learning</a> <a class='wikilink' href='index.html'>Reference</a> <a class='wikilink' href='http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Hardware'>Hardware</a> <a class='wikilink' href='FAQ.html'>FAQ</a> </p> <p class='vspace'></p> </div> </div> <!--/PageLeftFmt--> <div id="pagetext"> <!--PageText--> <div id='wikitext'> <p><strong>Reference</strong> <a class='wikilink' href='index.html'>Language</a> | <a class='wikilink' href='Libraries.html'>Libraries</a> | <a class='wikilink' href='Comparison.html'>Comparison</a> | <a class='wikilink' href='Changes.html'>Changes</a> </p> <p class='vspace'></p><h2>const keyword</h2> <p>The <strong>const</strong> keyword stands for constant. It is a variable <em>qualifier</em> that modifies the behavior of the variable, making a variable "<em>read-only</em>". This means that the variable can be used just as any other variable of its type, but its value cannot be changed. You will get a compiler error if you try to assign a value to a <strong>const</strong> variable. </p> <p class='vspace'></p><p>Constants defined with the <em>const</em> keyword obey the rules of <em><a class='wikilink' href='Scope.html'>variable scoping</a></em> that govern other variables. This, and the pitfalls of using<em>#define</em>, makes the <em>const</em> keyword a superior method for defining constants and is preferred over using <em><a class='wikilink' href='Define.html'>#define</a></em>. </p> <p class='vspace'></p><h4>Example</h4> <pre> const float pi = 3.14; float x; // .... x = pi * 2; // it's fine to use const's in math pi = 7; // illegal - you can't write to (modify) a constant </pre><h4><strong>#define</strong> or <strong>const</strong></h4> <p>You can use either <strong>const</strong> or <strong>#define</strong> for creating numeric or string constants. For <a class='wikilink' href='Array.html'>arrays</a>, you will need to use <strong>const</strong>. In general <em>const</em> is preferred over <em>#define</em> for defining constants. </p> <p class='vspace'></p><p>See also: </p><ul><li><a class='wikilink' href='Define.html'>#define</a> </li><li><a class='wikilink' href='Volatile.html'>volatile</a> </li></ul><p><a class='wikilink' href='index.html'>Reference Home</a> </p> <p class='vspace'></p><p><em>Corrections, suggestions, and new documentation should be posted to the <a class='urllink' href='http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/board,23.0.html' rel='nofollow'>Forum</a>.</em> </p> <p class='vspace'></p><p>The text of the Arduino reference is licensed under a <a class='urllink' href='http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/' rel='nofollow'>Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License</a>. 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