[SOLVED] Why should I use portTICK_PERIOD_MS instead of pdMS_TO

Why should I use portTICK_PERIOD_MS instead of pdMS_TO_TICKS?

I can retrieve the number of ticks needed to reach, say, 500 ms using either:

const TickType_t xDelay = 500 / portTICK_PERIOD_MS

or:

const TickType_t xDelay = pdMS_TO_TICKS(500);

where:

#define portTICK_PERIOD_MS              ( ( TickType_t ) 1000 / configTICK_RATE_HZ )

#define pdMS_TO_TICKS( xTimeInMs )    ( ( TickType_t ) ( ( ( TickType_t ) ( xTimeInMs ) * ( TickType_t ) configTICK_RATE_HZ ) / ( TickType_t ) 1000U ) )

To me, both #define seem to do the same thing. Is there any difference about performance or other stuff?

Solution

Using pd_MS_TO_TICKS is a bit cleaner coding style. It exposes a little less of the 'internal' details of FreeRTOS and helps avoid mistakes like accidentally doing portTICK_PERIOD_MS * x where the OP in a recent ESP32 forum question meant to use x / portTICK_PERIOD_MS.