Gem #143: Return to the Sources

It all starts from the source. All large applications organize their source code into multiple separate directories, which we generally think of as modules. The source files themselves generally follow naming conventions so that we can easily find things. For instance, the traditional extension for Ada files (in GNAT) are .adb and .ads, although other technologies use other extensions (.1.ada, for instance). A lot of tools, in particular the compiler and the IDE, need to find source files in order to perform various actions on the code. Once they have found the sources, though, they also need to know how to manipulate them. For instance, the compiler might need to compile a specific file with style checks turned off, whereas all other files need style checks enabled, to ensure style consistency.