Source code files Foundation

The complete code for a program (the source code) is stored in one or more ASCII files. Especially with large programs, the code should be divided up and meaningfully organized in multiple files. Xbase++ distinguishes two kinds of source code files: PRG files and CH files. PRG and CH are the default file extensions for the two kinds of source code files.

A PRG file contains actual program code. It is first translated by the preprocessor and then converted by the compiler into an object file containing executable code. A CH file is an #include file containing directives for the preprocessor. Based on these directives, the preprocessor translates the program code of a PRG file. For testing purposes, the result of the preprocessor can also be written to a PPO file (Pre-Processed Output). A PPO file contains the program code as it will be compiled by the compiler.