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Asked: 2020-10-30 12:00:44 +0800 CST 2020-10-30 12:00:44 +0800 CST

Why is a directory named 'src' in projects, libraries, etc?

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I was analyzing some bookstores and the doubt arose. It is common for them to contain a "src" directory, I guess it comes from "source", but I'm not sure if that is the case and if it is because of the abbreviated form... It is not always used either and I don't know if it is common to find it in some particular architectural pattern. I guess he'll have his story, anyone shed some light on it?

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1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    srcis always understood as source .

    In the set of folders of a project the directory srcwould store the source code of said project.

    According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language , the source code, that is, the code that is stored in srca project directory is:

    Code written by a programmer in a high-level language that is readable by humans but not by computers. Source code must be converted to object code or machine language before a computer can read or run the program.

    The Collins English Dictionary definition is much the same:

    The original form of a computer program before it becomes machine-readable code.

    And according to Thesaurus (WordNet 3.0) :

    Program instructions written as an ASCII text file; it must be translated by a compiler or interpreter or assembler into object code for a particular computer before execution.

    In short, it is the code that the programmer writes so that it is later compiled.

    As for its origin, I found nothing about it. However, the origin may be in Linux, which has a standard called File System Hierarchy , well documented and maintained by the Linux Foundation.

    Within that document, we see that Linux regulates the use of srcamong many other names that would be part of a naming convention that would have nothing to envy to any other.

    For example in section 6.1.9 :

    6.1.9. /usr/src: source code

    For systems based on glibc, there are no specific guidelines for this directory. For systems based on Linux libc revisions prior to glibc, the following guidelines and rationale apply:

    The only source code that should be placed in a specific location is the Linux kernel source code. It is located in /usr/src/linux.

    If a C or C++ compiler is installed, but the complete Linux kernel source code is not installed, then the include files from the kernel source code must be located in these directories:

    /usr/src/linux/include/asm-<arch>
/usr/src/linux/include/linux `<arch>` is the name of the system architecture.

    note

    /usr/src/linuxmay be a symbolic link to a kernel source code tree.

    Rationale

    It is important that the kernel include files be located in /usr/src/linuxand not in /usr/includeso there are no problems when system administrators upgrade their kernel version for the first time.

    This painstaking treatment of Linux may have spilled over into other languages ​​and also into project structures in almost all languages ​​today.

    srcIt is also used, for example, in HTML, to indicate the source (URL address) of an image.

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