Re: Debian coding style?

[Julian Gilbey <J.D.Gilbey@qmw.ac.uk>]

> 14. Compilation conditionals, with the exception of debug code noted above,
> should be avoided since they make the source code difficult to read and
> maintain. Old or unwanted code should be deleted from the source files prior
> to check-in. Source safes history feature can be used to retrieve an old
> version of the file if the old code is ever required again.

Several people have already talked about the need for compilation on
multiple machines/architectures and the need for compile-time
constants here.  I would strongly recommend having a look at the GNU
autoconf and automake software which does much of the work for you,
and then looking at some significant, mature project which makes use
of them to see how they are used in the field.  A good place to start
would be the TeX suite: try the teTeX 0.9-beta distribution (at
ftp://ftp.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/pub/local/misc/teTeX-beta/ and probably
mirrored somewhere closer too; I can get you a URL if you want).

   Julian

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  Julian Gilbey, Dept of Maths, QMW, Univ. of London. J.D.Gilbey@qmw.ac.uk
             Debian GNU/Linux Developer.  jdg@debian.org
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