1.2 KiB
1.2 KiB
How to write code in the api/
directory
Mostly, just follow the regular style guide, but:
- Note that
api/
code is not exempt from the “.h
and.cc
files come in pairs” rule, so if you declare something inapi/path/to/foo.h
, it should be defined inapi/path/to/foo.cc
. - Headers in
api/
should, if possible, not#include
headers outsideapi/
. It’s not always possible to avoid this, but be aware that it adds to a small mountain of technical debt that we’re trying to shrink. .cc
files inapi/
, on the other hand, are free to#include
headers outsideapi/
.
That is, the preferred way for api/
code to access non-api/
code is to call
it from a .cc
file, so that users of our API headers won’t transitively
#include
non-public headers.
For headers in api/
that need to refer to non-public types, forward
declarations are often a lesser evil than including non-public header files. The
usual rules still apply, though.
.cc
files in api/
should preferably be kept reasonably small. If a
substantial implementation is needed, consider putting it with our non-public
code, and just call it from the api/
.cc
file.