-#define check_error() { int err = glGetError(); if (err != GL_NO_ERROR) { printf("GL error 0x%x at %s:%d\n", err, __FILE__, __LINE__); exit(1); } }
+#define check_error() { int err = glGetError(); if (err != GL_NO_ERROR) { printf("GL error 0x%x at %s:%d\n", err, __FILE__, __LINE__); abort(); } }
+#endif
+
+// CHECK() is like assert(), but retains any side effects no matter the compilation mode.
+#ifdef NDEBUG
+#define CHECK(x) (void)(x)
+#else
+#define CHECK(x) do { bool ok = x; if (!ok) { fprintf(stderr, "%s:%d: %s: Assertion `%s' failed.\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, #x); abort(); } } while (false)