Proper way of organizing code into subpackages

New to Julia
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Tips directory structure/LOAD_PATH

If you are starting such a large project (approx 20 modules), I suggest taking advantage of LOAD_PATH instead of using pkg> add or pkg> dev. It is the easiest way to learning Julia development, and you can migrate to the pkg> system when your are closer to publishing your solution to Julia’s General registry (if you so desire).

Quick dev: 1 file per “software module”:

If you are migrating from Python, you might want to try the 1 file per “software module” solution:

my_package_repo
├── Module1.jl
├── Module2.jl
├── Module3.jl
...
├── ModuleN.jl

NOTE:

  • I myself have never tried this “single file” module solution, but it is supposed to work.
  • Don’t forget that the code from each Modulei.jl file must be encased in a module Modulei … end block.

Add my_package_repo to LOAD_PATH

You just have to make sure you first add:

push!(LOAD_PATH, "/path/to/my_package_repo")

You can set this variable in your ~/.julia/config/startup.jl or set it from a shell environment variable:

If you do this, you should no longer use pkg> add Module1. LOAD_PATH takes care of making it available to your project.

Typical package directory structure:

But to be able to migrate to the pkg> system more smoothly, I suggest you use the proper Julia directory structure from the start. Among other benefits, this structure (optionally) includes test/ folders for ci tests, and more clearly groups together package solutions that are split across multiple files.

my_package_repo
├── Module1
│   ├── Project.toml (optional)
│   ├── src
│   │   ├── Module1.jl
│   │   ├── Module1SubFile1.jl
│   │   └── Module1SubFile2.jl
│   └── test
│       └── runtests.jl
├── Module2
│   └src
│       └── Module2.jl
├── Module3
│   └src
│       └── Module3.jl
...
└── ModuleN
    └src
        └── ModuleN.jl

Again, I re-iterate:

  • Don’t forget that the code from each Modulei.jl file must be encased in a module Modulei … end block.
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