Whats the correct structure and way to load libraries / packages?

Question

I have create a quite large emacs package now its split over many files.

currently i am running an org block with multiple load calls to load them, this is not idea for redistribution.

How should I setup my project so loading the core file loads all other files ?

~/.emacs/folder/core.el

~/.emacs/folder/main.el

Currently i have a structure like the above, i have placed require calls in main.el but these do not find or load my files, seems it should invoke a load if not available this could be due to require not looking in the current folder ?

Any advice on how to setup this structure so that:

A I can load main.el should i use load or load library

B how to load the files that main.el requires.

Needed to add to load path with the below commands, then all files load via require correctly, thanks to tylor below.

  (add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs/dc/")
  (load "dc-popups")

Answer 1

The usual way to bundle elisp code for redistribution to Emacs users is via package.el, which is described in the elisp manual. This information is available from within emacs as well, C-h i m elisp <RET> m packaging <RET>.

Start there, and if you have specific questions about that process open a new question here.

For the particular issue you note, where require fails to load the additional files, you should check that ~/.emacs/folder/ is in the load-path. Otherwise, we need more info (i.e., actual code) to debug your problem.