I am trying to write a graphics engine for my university capstone project, and really wanted to give it a try in D, as both a talking point, and because I love the language. I'm using dub to build the library, and the demo application that'll use it.

However, I've come across a problem. In C/C++, when you build a library, you compile and link the source, then provide the header files for the library user to include. I have built the library, but what is the D equivalent to header files, and what do I have to do to prepare and use my library in another project?

On 1/21/23 5:53 PM, Matt wrote:

D uses modules, not header files. So no header files are necessary.

However, there is one case where you might want to use import files (D's equivalent to header files), and that's if you want to declare a specific API without providing the implementation.

For a project such as a university project, I would say this isn't necessary, as you don't need to obscure the implementation source from the users of your library.

If you do want to look into import files, for D, they are .di files, and should include prototypes for all the public functions you are providing, and definitions for all the types. Templates need to be included fully implemented source code, not just prototypes (just like C++).

-Steve

On Saturday, 21 January 2023 at 22:53:19 UTC, Matt wrote:

For using your thing as a library you need to do 2 things:

1: Include the library files by using importPaths on dub or -I= on your favorite compiler
2: Add the linker flag to include the library.

importPaths don't compile your source files. Only templates and some ctfe features can be used when using importPaths.