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doc: add note regarding file structure in src/README.md #35000

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24 changes: 24 additions & 0 deletions src/README.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -38,6 +38,30 @@ the [event loop][] and other operation system abstractions to Node.js.

There is a [reference documentation for the libuv API][].

## File structure

The Node.js C++ files follow this structure:

The `.h` header files contain declarations, and sometimes definitions that don’t
require including other headers (e.g. getters, setters, etc.). They should only
include other `.h` header files and nothing else.

The `-inl.h` header files contain definitions of inline functions from the
corresponding `.h` header file (e.g. functions marked `inline` in the
declaration or `template` functions). They always include the corresponding
`.h` header file, and can include other `.h` and `-inl.h` header files as
needed. It is not mandatory to split out the definitions from the `.h` file
into an `-inl.h` file, but it becomes necessary when there are multiple
definitions and contents of other `-inl.h` files start being used. Therefore, it
is recommended to split a `-inl.h` file when inline functions become longer than
a few lines to keep the corresponding `.h` file readable and clean. All visible
definitions from the `-inl.h` file should be declared in the corresponding `.h`
header file.

The `.cc` files contain definitions of non-inline functions from the
corresponding `.h` header file. They always include the corresponding `.h`
header file, and can include other `.h` and `-inl.h` header files as needed.

## Helpful concepts

A number of concepts are involved in putting together Node.js on top of V8 and
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