 <p>Why, you can still static assert with const int:</p> <pre><code>#define static_assert(e) extern char (*ct_assert(void)) [sizeof(char[1 - 2*!(e)])] static_assert( THIS_LIMIT &gt; OTHER_LIMIT ) </code></pre> <p>Also, <a href="http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_43_0/doc/html/boost_staticassert.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">use boost</a>!</p> <pre><code>BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT( THIS_LIMIT &gt; OTHER_LIMIT ) </code></pre> <p>... you'll get a <strong>lot</strong> nicer error messages...</p>