Teach Yourself Borland C++ in 14 Days - portal

6
174 Day 6
WARNING
Source Code Units
Do not delete any files from the C++Builder directories other than the
Examples directory. If in doubt, don’t delete!
Earlier I mentioned that most applications of any size have several source files, which Borland
calls units. The use of the term unit in C++Builder is a holdover from Pascal and Delphi.
C++Builder has its roots in the Delphi IDE, and unit is used throughout both VCL and the
C++Builder IDE itself. C++ programmers would typically refer to a file containing a
program’s source as a module. While using the term module would have been more C++
friendly (and less Pascal-like), replacing the word unit with module would have required
major changes to the C++Builder infrastructure, so the term unit was left in. If you are
coming from a C++ programming background, it might seem odd to refer to modules as
units, but you will get used to it soon enough. In the end, there’s no point in getting hung
up over terminology.
C++Builder uses the term unit to refer to source files.
NEW TERM
NOTE
Each time you create a new form, C++Builder does the following:
■ Creates a form file (.DFM)
■ Derives a class from TForm or from another form class
■ Creates a header (.H file) containing the class declaration
■ Creates a unit (.CPP file) for the class definition
■ Adds the new form information to the project makefile
Initially C++Builder assigns the default name Form1 to the form, Unit1.cpp for the associated
unit, and Unit1.h for the header. The second form created for the project would have the
default name Form2, and so on.
As soon as you create a new project, you should save it with a meaningful
name. Likewise, every time you create a new form, you should save
it with a descriptive name. This makes it easier to locate forms and
units when you need to make modifications.