# Architecture
Here's a look at how the "backend" of the list works. 

## README Generation
All applications are stored inside [```applications.json```](source/data/applications.json). Categories are declared inside [```categories.json```](source/data/categories.json). Instead of a nested format with subcategories as on object of it's parent, we've given subcategories a ```parent``` attribute. There's also a [```tags.json```](source/data/tags.json). Instead of putting the emoji inside of the ```tags``` attribute in ```applications.json```, the id is used, for example, ```commercial``` or ```disruptive```.. These id's are mapped to their corresponding emoji for when the READMEs are generated and makes ```applications.json``` more readable. 

The generation scripts are inside of the [```source/scripts/generation```](source/scripts/generation) directory. [```mainheader_generator.py```](source/scripts/generation/mainheader_generator.py) generates the very top header with the dynamic project count. Then, depending on the platform being generating, it inserts [```header.md```](source/components/header.md), [```macosheader.md```](source/components/macosheader.md), etc. [

[```tableofcontents_generator.py```](source/scripts/generation/tableofcontents_generator.py) generates the table of contents. It creates one, expandable but hidden by default, with all subsections listed alphabetically. The default TOC shows parent categories alphabetically with subcategories underneath, also alphabetically.

```contents_generator.py```](source/scripts/generation/contents_generator.py) generates the actual list.

Lastly [```readme_generator.py```](source/scripts/generation/readme_generator.py) brings everything together, calling the other scripts to generate one main list, and more for several platforms. 

## Maintenence
[```applications.json```](source/data/applications.json) stores a lot of information that the README does not display such as last commit, language, and license. These are for a future web version of the list that would pull data from the json file. [```stats_updator.py```](source/maintenance/stats_updator.py) runs every midnight and updates all application stats. Each application object in the json file also has a ```flags``` attribute. For example, the ```custom-description``` flag tells the stats_updator script to skip updating the description for that app. For more into on flags, consult the [```DOCS.md```](resources/DOCS.md)