Actually just saying that MACROs are bad, is half knowledge. Many many platforms like MFC and ATL use MACROs extensively. The platform(Architecture) I work on is OS independent. In that case MACRO work as saviour. We can't use standard template because that would make code platform dependent so we have to USE MACRO to simulate templates. MACROs are an effective way to use the strength of preprocessor, if you use them correctly then they can really be useful. When some one says that avoid MACROs then the main intention is to avoid using it at the place of function. But the usage of MACROs are beyond that also where they would be indispensable.