Best way (and examples) to make a tidy config with multiple files?

Hi all. As title says, I'd like to make a config using multiple files to make it more readable (at least for me). I don't want to do a literate config nor using use-package: just package and simple stuff like require and load. ​ ​ I've seen [this config repo](https://github.com/bling/dotemacs) which is really cool and easy to read and basically works this way: the init files does some preliminary stuff, then loads all the files in the /core and /config directory. I've seen that if i compile the byte code of the scripts in /config by themselves, there are some warnings of variables and functions not defined. The included files do not have explicit dependencies because everything is automatically included by the init file. ​ So the question is: is there a better approach on structuring an emacs config among multiple files?

I feel your pain, my config is so messed up right now :(

In what way does the number of files impact readability?

Having everything in one file certainly does

How?

Because It's too cluttered. I'd like to distinguish between default settings and specific mode settings (that could override some of the default settings) for example

I write my entire config in a org file that gets tangled to various .el modules that get loaded by the init.el file. I've been using Emacs for 2 years and that's the approach I liked the most.

I simply.add a lib/ directory to the load-path and require my other config files like that. to make this work, u have to put a (provide 'package-name) to the end of your required files: https://github.com/onetom/onetomacs/blob/main/lib/init-visuals.el#L57 I don't care about before/after-load functionality, since I don't load many order-sensitive packages, so I can just order them manually.

Have a look at Purcell’s (extremely popular) config: https://github.com/purcell/emacs.d I don’t use it anymore, but I use the model of a lisp directory for includes and it works great. You just have to provide each include with `(provide 'init-git)`, and then you can require it in init.el `(require 'init-git)`. It’s a very elegant solution. The System Crafters Rational Emacs distro takes the same approach as Purcell too: https://github.com/SystemCrafters/rational-emacs/tree/master/modules

I have a lisp folder with several .el files. They all "provide" various packages and features. I "require" them in the main init file. This also allows me to control what's included. For example on my laptop I skip some of the .El files because I don't need them (as opposed to my workstation or the work computer).