Overloading Macro on Number of Arguments

To add on to netcoder's answer, you CAN in fact do this with a 0-argument macro, with the help of the GCC ##__VA_ARGS__ extension:

#define GET_MACRO(_0, _1, _2, NAME, ...) NAME
#define FOO(...) GET_MACRO(_0, ##__VA_ARGS__, FOO2, FOO1, FOO0)(__VA_ARGS__)

Simple as:

#define GET_MACRO(_1,_2,_3,NAME,...) NAME
#define FOO(...) GET_MACRO(__VA_ARGS__, FOO3, FOO2)(__VA_ARGS__)

So if you have these macros, they expand as described:

FOO(World, !)         // expands to FOO2(World, !)
FOO(foo,bar,baz)      // expands to FOO3(foo,bar,baz)

If you want a fourth one:

#define GET_MACRO(_1,_2,_3,_4,NAME,...) NAME
#define FOO(...) GET_MACRO(__VA_ARGS__, FOO4, FOO3, FOO2)(__VA_ARGS__)

FOO(a,b,c,d)          // expands to FOO4(a,b,c,d)

Naturally, if you define FOO2, FOO3 and FOO4, the output will be replaced by those of the defined macros.

Here is a more general solution:

// get number of arguments with __NARG__
#define __NARG__(...)  __NARG_I_(__VA_ARGS__,__RSEQ_N())
#define __NARG_I_(...) __ARG_N(__VA_ARGS__)
#define __ARG_N( \
      _1, _2, _3, _4, _5, _6, _7, _8, _9,_10, \
     _11,_12,_13,_14,_15,_16,_17,_18,_19,_20, \
     _21,_22,_23,_24,_25,_26,_27,_28,_29,_30, \
     _31,_32,_33,_34,_35,_36,_37,_38,_39,_40, \
     _41,_42,_43,_44,_45,_46,_47,_48,_49,_50, \
     _51,_52,_53,_54,_55,_56,_57,_58,_59,_60, \
     _61,_62,_63,N,...) N
#define __RSEQ_N() \
     63,62,61,60,                   \
     59,58,57,56,55,54,53,52,51,50, \
     49,48,47,46,45,44,43,42,41,40, \
     39,38,37,36,35,34,33,32,31,30, \
     29,28,27,26,25,24,23,22,21,20, \
     19,18,17,16,15,14,13,12,11,10, \
     9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,0

// general definition for any function name
#define _VFUNC_(name, n) name##n
#define _VFUNC(name, n) _VFUNC_(name, n)
#define VFUNC(func, ...) _VFUNC(func, __NARG__(__VA_ARGS__)) (__VA_ARGS__)

// definition for FOO
#define FOO(...) VFUNC(FOO, __VA_ARGS__)

Define your functions:

#define FOO2(x, y) ((x) + (y))
#define FOO3(x, y, z) ((x) + (y) + (z))

// it also works with C functions:
int FOO4(int a, int b, int c, int d) { return a + b + c + d; }

Now you can use FOO with 2, 3 and 4 arguments:

FOO(42, 42) // will use makro function FOO2
FOO(42, 42, 42) // will use makro function FOO3
FOO(42, 42, 42, 42) // will call FOO4 function

Limitations

• Only up to 63 arguments (but expandable)
• Function for no argument only in GCC possible

Ideas

Use it for default arguments:

#define func(...) VFUNC(func, __VA_ARGS__)
#define func2(a, b) func4(a, b, NULL, NULL)
#define func3(a, b, c) func4(a, b, c, NULL)

// real function:
int func4(int a, int b, void* c, void* d) { /* ... */ }

Use it for functions with possible infinite number of arguments:

#define SUM(...) VFUNC(SUM, __VA_ARGS__)
#define SUM2(a, b) ((a) + (b))
#define SUM3(a, b, c) ((a) + (b) + (c))
#define SUM4(a, b, c) ((a) + (b) + (c) + (d))
// ...

PS: __NARG__ is copied from Laurent Deniau & Roland Illig here: https://groups.google.com/group/comp.std.c/browse_thread/thread/77ee8c8f92e4a3fb/346fc464319b1ee5?pli=1