I was wondering today about how much code people normally have in a single source file before they decide to split it into multiple smaller files.
Personally I tend to keep my files fairly small (exspecally header files when working with C/C++). That is I will generally only have one class or a bunch of functions in a given file so the file is generaly <500 lines. However all the stuff related normally shares the same namespace.
On the other hand some of the stuff I work with seem to quite happily try to stick as much as possible into a single file which is then 1000’s of lines long.
I like the small files better since any changes only requires recompiling that one piece of code, and I find it easier to navigate the source when it is broken into smaller files each with a specific purpose, rather than one massive file about the entire thing. Is there any real advantage to a few massive files?
For example my particle system is broken into system.h, emitter.h, load.h, particle.h, etc and corosponding .cpp files for each one. However some particle systems ive looked at seem to have put the entire source into a single .h and .cpp 1000’s of lines long.
Smaller files are without any doubt easier to read and understand. However, I don’t think you can make this decision based on the number of lines in a class or source file. Consider splitting up your code if you feel that common functionality should be placed in a different file instead. It will also allow for better reuse of code.