Talk:Compilers

Directory Build Spec

Note: The following only applies to "Run" and "Debug" modes. It does not apply to "Compile" mode, although we might be able to follow implications for it once we have this down solid.

Mac has a funky setup with the .app folder and the files inside it. These files can't/shouldn't be generated, but can be copied in, or left where they are and have the exe put in. This seems like it can be simplified like such:

• There shall be a folder to which game files will be copied/placed/written, and from which the game shall run.
• The folder may either be randomly generated, so as to allow multiple runs of the game, or "hard-code" specified, for systems where this is needed and running two games doesn't make sense (Android, iPhone). If randomly generated, the location may either be "hard-code" specified, or left up to the IDE (e.g. the temp folder).
• We will need some way to identify resources which are to be copied over. Originally, this was for mac's .nib and info.plist files, but it's clear that this can be useful for external resources and dlls, too.
• The exe itself shall be constructed separately, and then copied/placed/written into its appropriate location in this folder.

Currently, we handle everything as if the exe is the center of the universe, and everything else is kind of patched around it with the exe being forced to conform. I feel that this new approach is like discovering that the earth/exe is not the center of the universe, but an active region that only revolves around the grander scheme. Rather than trying to figure out the complex ways that the other planets (external files) revolve around the earth (exe), let's instead put the sun (directory) at the center, and add the planets in revolution around *it*, including ours.