Re: [gtk-list] Re: Need help in GTK-project

[erik it et tudelft nl (Erik Mouw)]

John C Atkeson  wrote:
> >>
> > Why do I need a headerfile for this?  Sorry to ask such stupid
> > questions, but this is my first BIG program... at school al always
> > learned to program in just one .c file and that was quite stupid I
> 
> Are you serious? It's really bad programming practice.
> <<
>   Eh, not that bad.
>   
>   It's a tradeoff, modularity is good, but 50 source files can be a lot
> harder to maintain than 5. 
>   E.G. renaming (or just finding) a variable is much easier with a
> minimum of files.  (Notice how the best tutorial examples are only 1
> piece of code?  Programs are written to be read by people... If not, they
> go extinct.)

You are right: sometimes modularity is not that efficient. However, for
every program that isn't a simple straight-forward task modularity helps
you creating, testing, and maintaining the code. (Tutorial examples
are straight forward programs: show how a certain feature works.)

However, the program Bart is working on is a clear example where
modularity will help. He actually needs two major modules: one to
control the motor and another one that handles the user interface.
Given the fact that he admits that this is his first big program, it
is a bit strange that his teachers didn't tell him about modular
programming.


Erik

-- 
J.A.K. (Erik) Mouw, Information and Communication Theory Group, Department
of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Information Technology and Systems,
Delft University of Technology, PO BOX 5031,  2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
Phone: +31-15-2785859  Fax: +31-15-2781843  Email J.A.K.Mouw@its.tudelft.nl
WWW: http://www-ict.its.tudelft.nl/~erik/