Context
When you’re building games, your code base grows and some class grow correspondingly. The class below may represent a class that has grown a significant amount.
--[[Services]]
--MyService1
--MyService2
--MyService3
--MyService4
--[[Modules]]
--MyModule1
--MyModule2
--MyModule3
--MyModule4
--MyModule5
--[[Assets/Folders/Misc]]
--MyThing1
--MyThing2
--MyThing3
--MyThing4
--MyThing5
--MyThing6
--[[Helpers]]
local function MyLocalHelper()
end
local function MyLocalHelper2()
end
local function MyLocalHelper3()
end
local module = {}
module.__index = module
function module.New()
local self = setmetatable({}, module)
return self
end
function module:MyMethod()
--Super long code
end
function module:MyMethod2()
--Super long code
end
function module:MyMethod3()
--Super long code
end
function module:MyMethod4()
--Super long code
end
--[[Helpers]]
function module:MyHelper()
end
function module:MyHelper2()
end
function module:MyHelper3()
end
So overwhelming!
Why is this code bad?
- Code can reach hundreds to thousands of lines long, making expansion harder
- Unneeded variables and functions that were used in deleted or changed methods can accumulate and tracking them down is hard with so much code
- Locating a desired method can also be hard because of so much code
What’s the solution?
Compartmentalize each method!
Instead of storing all the methods where you create the class, split them up into individual modules
Inside each module would look like this:
--Services
--Modules
--Misc
local function MyLocalHelper()
end
local function MyLocalHelper2()
end
local module = {}
function module:Fragment() --MAKE SURE TO USE ":" INSTEAD OF "."
print(self.apples)
end
return module
This is so much easier read!
This allows us read our code without needing to see irrelevant variables and functions that are used by other methods. We can now focus only on this method without any conflicts with other methods.
Now to add all the function to the main module we can do this:
do
local fragments = script.Fragments
for i, fragment: ModuleScript in fragments:GetChildren() do
local name = fragment.Name
module[name] = require(fragment).Fragment
end
end
The End!
Thank you so much for reading. I hope this post can help you tackle scalability and code management!