Multi file Projects

Multi-file Projects

Single-file programs are the default in madc. For larger projects, use #include to compose multiple source files.

Convention

Create a top-level file named after your application that #includes the rest in order, with int main() last:

// smaug.mad
#include "config.mad"
#include "mud.mad"
#include "tables.mad"
#include "comm.mad"
// ... other source files ...
#include "main.mad"   // contains int main()

Run the whole project:

madc smaug.mad

How #include works

• #include "file.mad" — resolves relative to the including file
• #include <stdio.h> — checks embedded headers first, then filesystem
• Nested includes are supported
• Repeated includes of the same file are automatically skipped within a single compile
• All included code shares the same global scope

Project structure example

myproject/
  myproject.mad        # top-level entry point
  config.mad           # configuration and constants
  types.mad            # struct definitions
  utils.mad            # utility functions
  main.mad             # int main()

// myproject.mad
#include "config.mad"
#include "types.mad"
#include "utils.mad"
#include "main.mad"

madc myproject.mad

Compiling to an executable

madc -o myproject myproject.mad
./myproject

The entire project compiles to a single native ELF binary.

What's next?

• Preprocessor — #define, #ifdef, #include, #load
• Getting Started — if you haven't set up madc yet
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