[Python-Dev] Split unicodeobject.c into subfiles? (original) (raw)

Victor Stinner victor.stinner at gmail.com
Sun Oct 7 23:17:27 CEST 2012

The amount of code will not be reduced, but now you also need to guess what file some piece of functionality may be in.

How do you search a piece of code? If you search for a function by its name, it does not matter in which file it is defined if you an IDE or vim/emacs with a correct configuration. For example, I type ":tag PyUnicode_Format" to go to the PyUnicode_Format() function.

Instead of having my text editor (Emacs) search in one file, it will have to search across multiple files - but not across all open buffers, but only some of them (since I will have many other source files open as well).

Does it mean that it would be more practical to merge all C files into one unique file?

I really fail to see what problem people have with large source files. What is it that you want to do that can be done easier if it's multiple files?

Another problem with huge files is to handle "dependencies" with static functions. If the function A calls the function B which calls the function C, you have to order A, B and C "correctly" if these functions are private and not declared at the top of the file.

If functions are grouped correctly, you just lhave to add the function to the right file, or reorder the files.

I also prefer short files beacuse it's easier to review/audit a small file. My brain cannot store too many functions :-)

Victor

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