printNameconst

printNameconst is a debugging utility concept that prints the identifier name and the value of a constant at runtime. It is not a standard language feature, but it appears as a library function, macro, or helper in various codebases to aid development, testing, and documentation.

The design of printNameconst varies by language. In languages with preprocessor macros, a stringification technique can capture the constant’s symbol as its name. In languages that support reflection, a helper can locate the symbol by name and retrieve its current value. In environments without either mechanism, implementations typically require the programmer to pass both the name and the value explicitly, for example by calling printNameconst("MAX_USERS", MAX_USERS).

Typical usage involves emitting a simple, human-readable line such as MAX_USERS = 1000. Some implementations offer variants that accept a constant only and infer the name, while others require an explicit name string. The utility is commonly used in unit tests, verbose logging, or diagnostic dumps where understanding the values of constants at runtime is helpful.

Limitations include inconsistent support across languages and builds, potential runtime overhead, and ambiguity if constants are renamed or optimized away. It is also not suitable for all production environments, where performance or security concerns may arise. Alternatives in various ecosystems include using a nameof-like operator, explicit string literals for labels, or external documentation tools that enumerate constant values.

See also: constants, reflection, debugging utilities, nameof operator.