Back to General and Gameplay Programming

Organizing header files

General and Gameplay Programming Programming

Started by CoffeeMug September 17, 2004 11:40 AM

13 comments, last by Muhammad Haggag 19 years, 7 months ago

CoffeeMug

852

Author

September 17, 2004 11:40 AM

How do you organize header files? If you have a complex file hierarchy like this:


/project
  /graphics
    /particlesystem
    /terrain
  /physics
    /collision
    /water
    /ragdoll

managing paths in #includes can get quite annoying. I'd rather write


#include "terrain.h"

than


#include "graphics/terrain/terrain.h"

One obvious solution is to run a script at the beginning of every compilation that grabs all header files and puts it under /project/includes. The problem with this is that when there are errors in the header files, the IDEs bring up a file from /project/includes when you try to look at the error. You end up modifying a temporary file that gets overwritten the next time you compile which is obviously a large pain in the ass. How do you handle this situation?

defmacro.org

Maega

707

September 17, 2004 02:00 PM

You can set additional include directories in your project so directory structure won't matter to the compiler.

s_p_oneil

445

September 17, 2004 02:21 PM

Quote:Original post by Maega
You can set additional include directories in your project so directory structure won't matter to the compiler.

To make this easier to manage, it's also a good idea to put the most common headers in a single include directory or in a single static library called CoreLib or something like that.

CoffeeMug

852

Author

September 17, 2004 02:32 PM

Well, adding many compiler directories also isn't a very good solution...

Does GCC support precompiled headers?

defmacro.org

Maega

707

September 17, 2004 02:33 PM

Quote:Original post by CoffeeMug
Well, adding many compiler directories also isn't a very good solution...

Does GCC support precompiled headers?

And writing a batch file is? :/

GCC should support precompiled headers.

CoffeeMug

852

Author

September 17, 2004 02:37 PM

Quote:Original post by Maega
And writing a batch file is? :/

Took me 15 minutes after Olusei (damn, his name is hard to spell) recommended Python.

defmacro.org

Muhammad Haggag

1,358

September 17, 2004 02:42 PM

Quote:Original post by CoffeeMug
Well, adding many compiler directories also isn't a very good solution...

Some IDEs+compilers like CodeWarrior automatically do this. Which is inappropriate, IMO.

I ran into problems where I had files with the same name in different project subdirectories: 2 "common.h" files. CodeWarrior was always including the wrong one because it searches the project paths in a certain order, and includes the one that comes first.

So generally, I agree with this point

Quote:Does GCC support precompiled headers?

As far as I know, yes. You'll definitely find more details on the gcc website.

Quote:How do you handle this situation?

I usually use relative pathing, e.g. "graphics/terrain/terrain.h"
It's not that bad - it forces you to think your directory structure before doing anything, which is good for things like CVS anyway.

Muhammad Haggag

1,358

September 17, 2004 02:45 PM

Quote:Original post by CoffeeMug
Took me 15 minutes after Olusei (damn, his name is hard to spell) recommended Python.

Not really that hard. Just stop for a minute, learn the pronounciation of his name by heart, and then you'll be able to write it in a sec: Oluseyi.

I tried to learn the spelling first, but that led me to nowhere [smile]

JohnBolton

1,373

September 17, 2004 02:52 PM

I don't see what is so annoying about putting the paths in the #include. What is there to manage?

It helps if the organization of folders in a project mirrors the organization of the software. The source file and its header file should be kept together. Splitting them into separate folders seems like a very bad idea.

Keep the number of folders in the include path to a minimum. On a large project, you easily have more than 100 folders. Putting all those folders into the include path is going to cause problems.

John BoltonLocomotive Games (THQ)Current Project: Destroy All Humans (Wii). IN STORES NOW!

CoffeeMug

852

Author

September 17, 2004 02:56 PM

Quote:Original post by Coder
Just stop for a minute, learn the pronounciation of his name by heart, and then you'll be able to write it in a sec: Oluseyi.

I can't even begin to imagine how his name is pronounced [smile]

defmacro.org

Organizing header files

This topic is closed to new replies.

Popular Topics

Recommended Tutorials

Organizing header files

This topic is closed to new replies.

Popular Topics

Recommended Tutorials

Reticulating splines