Large projects (Was: Offtopic. ;)
This one may also be a bit long, but it's on topic and may be of interest
to more than .01% of the list.
Noah Smith (aka snortboy) writes:
>I'm seriously considering trying to implement a game I've been
>thinking about, but I'm still lost.
>I have no idea how to set about doing a large project. Should I do it
>all with .e files? How do i make sure the sound and mouse and graphics
>and keyboard all work together? Well, those are mainly just programming
>problems. I guess what I'm really interested in is the organization
>aspect -- how do programmers set up large progs so that it all
>comes together when you actually punch out the code?
Well, I assume different programmers will do it seperate ways, but here
is one way, which I usually do:
First, I write a simple version of the big program. If it's a database, I
make a crude interface with small features and only a few calculations.
If it's a game, I'll create the main player, and allow him to move around
in the world.
Then, I add features. New data fields and calculations for a database
type program, and more interaction with the environment in a game.
As I add features, if the program gets big and complex enough, I'll break
subroutines off into .E files. (ie all the menuing stuff goes into a
MENU.E, and common game math routines, such as distance, trajectory
plotting, a physics stuff would go into MATH.E or PHYSICS.E.)
Then, after a while, the program becomes finished. Well, I can't think up
a really good conclusion, but you should get the idea. For some examples
of how stuff can be organized, look at Language War or download Hayes and
look how everything is organized. (And don't worry, games are rarely
coded super-readable so if your code gets a bit less readable as the game
is finished, you're perfectly normal. 
And yes, I'm sure there are other ways to do it, so just try a few things
and see what works and what doesn't.... Okay, I'll shutup now. (Fingers
are getting sore anyway. :)
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