System for organizing multi-file Ruby programs?
Is there a standard or conventional system for organizing multi-file Ruby programs? I have embarked on my first large "project" in Ruby, a search program which is logically organized into multiple files and directories. I've outlined below my potential structure:
- The main file. This file implements the search class and general searching protocol.
- The algorithmic analysis file. This file implements functions that interpret search results.
- Protocols directory
- Contains one file per protocol to search.
- Feeds Directory
- Part of the program's purpose is to search archived news feeds. The files for this feature go in this folder.
However, the code currently has a class (let's call it Searcher) that each protocol's search class inherits from (GoogleSearcher < Searcher). In order to manage this, I need to include the main file in these protocol files (right?) which doesn't seem possible given my ideal structure.
Aside from my specific example, I was wondering if there are any conventions, such as "more files rather than less", or "logical structuring of files is unnecessary". Is it common to have a file of "helper" functions (such as in Rails?) What level of abstraction is considered appropriate?
Finally, I'm planning on integrating this into Rails someday as a library (not a plugin; I want it to work standalone as well). I don't know if this would affect the organization.
I know this is a pretty open-ended question, but that's because I would appreciate any advice that is remotely relevant. Thanks in advance.
Answer
You may want to consider creating a gem for your library. This would make it easy to use the library both stand-alone and with Rails, as well as make deployment/updates simpler.
Further, because gems normally follow a specific directory structure, it also solves your issue of not knowing how to organize the library.
There is plenty of documentation available for creating gems. Here's a bit more info about file structure, as well as other useful tips.