C++ Faster loading with classes in the main project file or in another file?

[JohanKjeldahl7]

Hello there!

 

I am a complete newbie and started with C++ one week ago. I just learned about classes and structures. I know that I can write them before i start my "int main()" and that I can write them into a completely different file and just integrate a link to the new file with my classes before "int main()". My question is: If I had a really big project with really big files, would it be faster if I wrote the classes and so on in the file itself or would it be faster if I write them into a different file and just use the link to the new file? Or would the loading times not be effected enough to notice a difference?

 

I hope this makes sense, as I said I am still a newbie.

Thanks in advance and have a beautiful day!

 

 

[Kilrah]

Won't make any difference in performance, but everything in one file would be a nightmare to maintain.

[JohanKjeldahl7]

1 minute ago, Kilrah said:

Won't make any difference in performance, but everything in one file would be a nightmare to maintain.

So it is only used to make the code more "readable"/understandable and reduce the lines of code in a single file?

[Kilrah]

Yes basically. That way you can organize your code in files dedicated to a specific functionality etc so that you know which file to go in when you're looking for something. 

[WereCatf]

2 minutes ago, JohanKjeldahl7 said:

So it is only used to make the code more "readable"/understandable and reduce the lines of code in a single file?

Exactly. I mean, if you don't have a very complex project that deliberately compiles into multiple dynamically-loadable files, then all the code in the separate files will still end up in the same executable.

[JohanKjeldahl7]

Just now, WereCatf said:

Exactly. I mean, if you don't have a very complex project that deliberately compiles into multiple dynamically-loadable files, then all the code in the separate files will still end up in the same executable.

 

1 minute ago, Kilrah said:

Yes basically. That way you can organize your code in files dedicated to a specific function etc so that you know which file to go in when you're looking for something. 

Okay, that makes a lot more sense to me now. Thank you guys so much!

[trag1c]

As others have said multiple files don't actually do anything besides make your code more maintainable. Basically The #include directive actually tells the preprocessor (a compiler component) to copy the text of that file into the target file. From there it is compiled into an object and then the linker links all of your objects together into a cohesive executable file.

 

That's the very brief explanation of what happens. If you want a more detailed explanation this is a good Stack Overflow post on the process. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6264249/how-does-the-compilation-linking-process-work

[JohanKjeldahl7]

1 hour ago, trag1c said:

As others have said multiple files don't actually do anything besides make your code more maintainable. Basically The #include directive actually tells the preprocessor (a compiler component) to copy the text of that file into the target file. From there it is compiled into an object and then the linker links all of your objects together into a cohesive executable file.

 

That's the very brief explanation of what happens. If you want a more detailed explanation this is a good Stack Overflow post on the process. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6264249/how-does-the-compilation-linking-process-work

Thank you!

I will check it out.