[burfog]

Heh, you disagree, then go on to agree. You even provide an example! Another good one is computing the Hamming weight, where the code is far more understandable if you have the numbers right there.

Even your "switch 26" isn't always bad. If the value only occurs in exactly that one place in your code, it's probably better to use a comment in plain English. A comment is more readable than DO_SOMETHIN_ELSE and, normally, would go right in the place where you actually use the value.