CodingGuidelines: clarify C #include rules

Even though "advice.h" includes "git-compat-util.h", it is not
sensible to have it as the first #include and indirectly satisify
the "You must give git-compat-util.h a clean environment to set up
feature test macros before including any of the system headers are
included", which is the real requirement.

Because:

 - A command that interacts with the object store, config subsystem,
   the index, or the working tree cannot do anything without using
   what is declared in "cache.h";

 - A built-in command must be declared in "builtin.h", so anything
   in builtin/*.c must include it;

 - These two headers both include "git-compat-util.h" as the first
   thing; and

 - Almost all our *.c files (outside compat/ and borrowed files in
   xdiff/) need some Git-ness from "cache.h" to do something
   Git-ish.

let's explicitly specify that one of these three header files must
be the first thing that is included.

Any of our *.c file should include the header file that directly
declares what it uses, instead of relying on the fact that some *.h
file it includes happens to include another *.h file that declares
the necessary function or type.  Spell it out as another guideline
item.

Helped-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

1 files changed, 8 insertions, 3 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
index 4d90c77..ae8b42f 100644
--- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
+++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
@@ -328,9 +328,14 @@ For C programs:
 
  - When you come up with an API, document it.
 
- - The first #include in C files, except in platform specific
-   compat/ implementations, should be git-compat-util.h or another
-   header file that includes it, such as cache.h or builtin.h.
+ - The first #include in C files, except in platform specific compat/
+   implementations, must be either "git-compat-util.h", "cache.h" or
+   "builtin.h".  You do not have to include more than one of these.
+
+ - A C file must directly include the header files that declare the
+   functions and the types it uses, except for the functions and types
+   that are made available to it by including one of the header files
+   it must include by the previous rule.
 
  - If you are planning a new command, consider writing it in shell
    or perl first, so that changes in semantics can be easily