multi-file programs - main.c recommended?

[G Patel]

Can anways explain why many multi-file programs I've seen don't have a
main.c file, instead main() is hidden in a file with a different name?
Is this just a preference, or is there an unspoken rule (or advantage).

I've been calling the file with main, main.c, and I was wondering if
there are any caveats against this (that might prevent me from being
laughed at or something).

[G Patel]

G Patel wrote:

Can anways explain why many multi-file programs I've seen don't have a
^^^
anyone
main.c file, instead main() is hidden in a file with a different name? Is this just a preference, or is there an unspoken rule (or advantage).
I've been calling the file with main, main.c, and I was wondering if
there are any caveats against this (that might prevent me from being
laughed at or something).

[Jens.Toerring]

G Patel <ga********@gmail.com> wrote:

Can anways explain why many multi-file programs I've seen don't have a
main.c file, instead main() is hidden in a file with a different name?
Is this just a preference, or is there an unspoken rule (or advantage). I've been calling the file with main, main.c, and I was wondering if
there are any caveats against this (that might prevent me from being
laughed at or something).

There' nothing that would force you to call the file with the main()
function main.c - but there's also nothing that would keep you from
doing that. Personally, I prefer to give the file with main() a name
that reflects the one of the final program since I feel that this is
somehow the most logial choice (probably due to having started with
FORTRAN where the equivalent of main() was a function with the name
of the final program (IIRC) and it thus was natural to name the file
accordingly), but if you feel differently do it as you like and no-
one is going to laugh;-) With tools like grep it is simple to find
out where main() is, so there's no reason to worry.

Regards, Jens
--
\ Jens Thoms Toerring ___ Je***********@physik.fu-berlin.de
\__________________________ http://www.toerring.de

[Rouben Rostamian]

In article <11*********************@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups. com>,
G Patel <ga********@gmail.com> wrote:

Can anways explain why many multi-file programs I've seen don't have a
main.c file, instead main() is hidden in a file with a different name?
Is this just a preference, or is there an unspoken rule (or advantage).

I've been calling the file with main, main.c, and I was wondering if
there are any caveats against this (that might prevent me from being
laughed at or something).

There is no rule for/against this; you may call that file main.c
if you like.

If I were writing a program to play the game of solitaire,
chances are that the file that contained main() would be
called solitaire.c.

Strangely enough, if I were writing a program to play chess,
chances are that the file that contained main() would be
called main.c. There is no particular logic behind this.
It's a matter of whim/style.

--
Rouben Rostamian

[Keith Thompson]

"G Patel" <ga********@gmail.com> writes:

Can anways explain why many multi-file programs I've seen don't have a
main.c file, instead main() is hidden in a file with a different name?
Is this just a preference, or is there an unspoken rule (or advantage).

I've been calling the file with main, main.c, and I was wondering if
there are any caveats against this (that might prevent me from being
laughed at or something).

If you have a software package that generates multiple executables,
you might have multiple files containing a main() function. In such a
case, it probably makes sense for each such source file to have a name
reflecting the name of the executable. (Or you can put them in
separate directories and call each one "main.c".)

There's no universal convention, and the C language doesn't care.

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) ks***@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center <*> <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.

[Harshal]

there are many which have main.c , try google for MLAPM (used in n-body
simulations)

G Patel wrote:

Can anways explain why many multi-file programs I've seen don't have a main.c file, instead main() is hidden in a file with a different name? Is this just a preference, or is there an unspoken rule (or advantage).
I've been calling the file with main, main.c, and I was wondering if
there are any caveats against this (that might prevent me from being
laughed at or something).

[Parahat Melayev]

"G Patel" <ga********@gmail.com> wrote in message news:<11*********************@g14g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com>...

Can anways explain why many multi-file programs I've seen don't have a
main.c file, instead main() is hidden in a file with a different name?
Is this just a preference, or is there an unspoken rule (or advantage).

I've been calling the file with main, main.c, and I was wondering if
there are any caveats against this (that might prevent me from being
laughed at or something).

I always use
$ grep -n main\( *.c
to find main if there is no main.c or [PROGRAMNAME].c

[Alan Balmer]

On 2 Mar 2005 17:14:49 -0800, "G Patel" <ga********@gmail.com> wrote:

Can anways explain why many multi-file programs I've seen don't have a
main.c file, instead main() is hidden in a file with a different name?
Is this just a preference, or is there an unspoken rule (or advantage).

I've been calling the file with main, main.c, and I was wondering if
there are any caveats against this (that might prevent me from being
laughed at or something).

Normally, you would put the main() in a file which has a name
appropriate for your program. For example, if your program is going to
be called widget, put the main in widget.c.

Consider - if I always put main() in a file named main.c, after 20
years of C programming, I would now have a thousand files named
main.c! How would I remember which was which?

--
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting
re************************@att.net

[Kiru Sengal]

Alan Balmer wrote:

Normally, you would put the main() in a file which has a name
appropriate for your program. For example, if your program is going to be called widget, put the main in widget.c.

Consider - if I always put main() in a file named main.c, after 20
years of C programming, I would now have a thousand files named
main.c! How would I remember which was which?

You shouldn't have to 'remember.'
.../[Program 1 name]/main.c
.../[Program 2 name]/main.c
.../[Program 3 name]/main.c
.../[Program 4 name]/main.c

[Keith Thompson]

Alan Balmer <al******@att.net> writes:
[...]

Normally, you would put the main() in a file which has a name
appropriate for your program. For example, if your program is going to
be called widget, put the main in widget.c.

Consider - if I always put main() in a file named main.c, after 20
years of C programming, I would now have a thousand files named
main.c! How would I remember which was which?

Presumably you wouldn't have to remember; you could tell by the name
of the directory it's in. (This assumes a programming environment
that keeps source files in directories, of course.)

I'm not saying you *should* call it main.c, only suggesting that doing
so doesn't necessarily mean you should be laughed at.

I consider either "widget.c" or "main.c" to be a reasonable name for
the source file containing the main program for "widget". The name
"main.c" could cause problems if a single project has multiple main
programs, but you can always put them in separate subdirectories.

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) ks***@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center <*> <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.

[Alan Balmer]

On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 20:18:28 GMT, Keith Thompson <ks***@mib.org>
wrote:

Alan Balmer <al******@att.net> writes:
[...]

Normally, you would put the main() in a file which has a name
appropriate for your program. For example, if your program is going to
be called widget, put the main in widget.c.

Consider - if I always put main() in a file named main.c, after 20
years of C programming, I would now have a thousand files named
main.c! How would I remember which was which?
Presumably you wouldn't have to remember; you could tell by the name
of the directory it's in. (This assumes a programming environment
that keeps source files in directories, of course.)

If your programming career is sufficiently short, simple, and
concentrated in one environment, that will work. More or less.
I'm not saying you *should* call it main.c, only suggesting that doing
so doesn't necessarily mean you should be laughed at.
I'll make up my own mind on that <g>.
I consider either "widget.c" or "main.c" to be a reasonable name for
the source file containing the main program for "widget". The name
"main.c" could cause problems if a single project has multiple main
programs, but you can always put them in separate subdirectories.

Hmm... That would mean the project I'm on now would have 432
directories. They could, of course, be organized as subdirectories
under the current set of directories, and I'm sure we could eventually
figure out how to get the makefiles to work again ...

Maybe next year.

--
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting
re************************@att.net

[Eric Sosman]

Alan Balmer wrote:

On 2 Mar 2005 17:14:49 -0800, "G Patel" <ga********@gmail.com> wrote:

Can anways explain why many multi-file programs I've seen don't have a
main.c file, instead main() is hidden in a file with a different name?
Is this just a preference, or is there an unspoken rule (or advantage).

I've been calling the file with main, main.c, and I was wondering if
there are any caveats against this (that might prevent me from being
laughed at or something).

Normally, you would put the main() in a file which has a name
appropriate for your program. For example, if your program is going to
be called widget, put the main in widget.c.

Consider - if I always put main() in a file named main.c, after 20
years of C programming, I would now have a thousand files named
main.c! How would I remember which was which?

"There is nothing like a main()!
Nothing in the world!"

--
Eric Sosman
es*****@acm-dot-org.invalid