Get Involved/development: Difference between revisions

From KDE Community Wiki

Revision as of 19:08, 9 March 2016

Becoming a KDE Developer

By joining the ranks of KDE developers, you will get to implement new features and defeat daunting bugs, all while collaborating to make coherent and stable releases. Developers collaborate in teams based on what area they are working in. These can be small teams working on a single application, up to large teams working on group of related pieces of software. Many developers are in more than one team.

KDE runs or participates in several mentoring programs to help new developers, including an informal list of people who are willing to help newcomers get started. See the Mentoring page for more details.

Choosing what to do

A good place to start is with a small bug or feature in an existing piece of software that affects you personally ("scratch your own itch"). Get in touch with the existing developers (see #Communicating with the team, below) and they can help you out, by pointing you to the right place in the code and giving advice about how to tackle the problem.

Other starting points are:

Junior Jobs are small tasks that are suitable for beginners (both bugs and features)
The English Breakfast Network searches out simple, common issues in code that should be fixed, and going through the problems on there can provide a good overview of the code

Communicating with the team

There are many ways to get in touch with KDE developers, and developers for a specific project:

the IRC channel #kde-devel on the freenode network (learn more about IRC) is the core channel for developers
the primary development mailing list is the kde-devel list (learn more about mailing lists)

Both of these are general KDE development communication channels, and you may get directed to a more appropriate place for the project you are interested in. There is a list of mailing lists if you want to find a mailing list for a specific team directly.

You can also try looking for the team's section on the Main Page of this wiki. Many teams have information there for new contributors.

New to (C++/Qt) software development?

Most KDE software is written in C++ using the Qt framework. There are many guides to C++ online, and which one works for you will depend on how you learn best and what previous programming experience you have.

For learning Qt, you can find a list of books for learning Qt on the Qt wiki. Qt also provides lots of examples you can look at.

Most KDE software is also built on other KDE software, particularly the KDE Frameworks. The TechBase wiki has documentation about using these libraries.

Getting the code

Source code for KDE projects can be found in the KDE Git repositories. These are listed in our repository browser, and the URLs you need to clone can be found there as well. If you are not familiar with Git, the Git Book is a good introduction, although all you really need right now is

git clone https://anongit.kde.org/<repository-name>.git

For almost all KDE software projects, you will need to use CMake to build them. On UNIX systems, the process is fairly straightforward:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/where/you/want/to/install/it ..
make
make install

The CMake step will complain if you don't have the project's dependencies installed (don't forget that on many Linux distributions, you need to install the development version of packages). Once you have installed the things it tells you, re-run CMake so it picks them up. If you want a way to get the latest versions of all the dependencies easily, you might want to consider looking at KDE Neon.

Hopefully the project has unit tests, which can be run with

make test

Now you can open your editor and get hacking!

Submitting your first patch

Once you have made a change, you need to send it to someone on the team to review it and (hopefully) apply it. You should find out from the team what their preferred method is, but for most teams it will be either uploading the patch to Phabricator or uploading it to Review Board. In either case, you will need a KDE Identity account to log in.

Phabricator: After logging in, go to Differential (on the left menu), and then choose Create Diff (in the top right). That page contains further instructions.
Review Board: After logging in, choose New Review Request at the top and follow the instructions.

Retrieved from "https://community.kde.org/index.php?title=Get_Involved/development&oldid=52192"

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 == Becoming a KDE Developer ==
-[[Image:development.png|Development|left]]By joining the ranks of KDE developers, you will get to implement new features and defeat daunting bugs, all while collaborating to make coherent and stable releases. Developers collaborate in teams based on what area they are working in, such as [http://edu.kde.org/ Education], [http://pim.kde.org/ Productivity], or [http://games.kde.org/ Games]. See [http://techbase.kde.org/Welcome_to_KDE_TechBase techbase wiki] for programming related info.
+[[Image:Get-involved-develop-large.png|left|]]By joining the ranks of KDE developers, you will get to implement new features and defeat daunting bugs, all while collaborating to make coherent and stable releases. Developers collaborate in teams based on what area they are working in. These can be small teams working on a single application, up to large teams working on group of related pieces of software. Many developers are in more than one team.
-Frank Osterfeld advises "start small and scratch your own itch, at least that's what kept me motivated in the beginning."
+KDE runs or participates in several mentoring programs to help new developers, including an informal list of people who are willing to help newcomers get started. See the [[Mentoring]] page for more details.
-As a result of a [http://dot.kde.org/2012/02/05/kde-development-%E2%80%93-beginners-guide/ Sprint] held in October 2011 we now have a [http://flossmanuals.net/kde-guide/ Beginner's Guide to KDE Development] available to ease the new contributors way into KDE development.
+==Choosing what to do==
+A good place to start is with a small bug or feature in an existing piece of software that affects you personally ("scratch your own itch"). Get in touch with the existing developers (see [[#Communicating with the team]], below) and they can help you out, by pointing you to the right place in the code and giving advice about how to tackle the problem.
+Other starting points are:
+* [https://bugs.kde.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&keywords=junior-jobs&list_id=1340815 Junior Jobs] are small tasks that are suitable for beginners (both bugs and features)
+* [http://www.englishbreakfastnetwork.org/ The English Breakfast Network] searches out simple, common issues in code that should be fixed, and going through the problems on there can provide a good overview of the code
 == Communicating with the team ==
@@ Line 12: / Line 19: @@
 There are many ways to get in touch with KDE developers, and developers for a specific project:
-Start at the '''IRC channel [irc://irc.kde.org/kde-devel <nowiki>#kde-devel</nowiki>]''' on irc.freenode.net, or [http://kde.org/support/#irc learn more about IRC].
+* the IRC channel [irc://irc.kde.org/kde-devel <nowiki>#kde-devel</nowiki>] on [http://freenode.net/ the freenode network] ([http://kde.org/support/#irc learn more about IRC]) is the core channel for developers
+* the primary development mailing list is the [https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-devel kde-devel list] ([http://kde.org/support/#mailinglists learn more about mailing lists])
+Both of these are general KDE development communication channels, and you may get directed to a more appropriate place for the project you are interested in. There is a [http://www.kde.org/mailinglists/ list of mailing lists] if you want to find a mailing list for a specific team directly.
+You can also try looking for the team's section on the [[Main Page]] of this wiki. Many teams have information there for new contributors.
+==New to (C++/Qt) software development?==
+Most KDE software is written in C++ using the [https://www.qt.io Qt framework]. There are many guides to C++ online, and which one works for you will depend on how you learn best and what previous programming experience you have.
-The central for development is the '''[https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-devel kde-devel mailing list]''', [http://kde.org/support/#mailinglists learn about mailing lists].
+For learning Qt, you can find [https://wiki.qt.io/Books a list of books for learning Qt] on the Qt wiki. Qt also provides [http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtexamplesandtutorials.html lots of examples] you can look at.
-However, each team has its own messaging channels, both on IRC and on the mailinglists. You can find a list [http://www.kde.org/mailinglists/ here].
+Most KDE software is also built on other KDE software, particularly the KDE Frameworks. The [https://techbase.kde.org TechBase wiki] has documentation about using these libraries.
-== Getting and building the code ==
+==Getting the code==
-In most cases, you will want to download, compile and install KDE trunk (our development tree) to start developing. Read the [http://techbase.kde.org/Getting_Started/Build building guide]. If you get stuck or get errors, that's OK. You might not need to compile the whole set of applications, but getting started is a good step.
+Source code for KDE projects can be found in the KDE Git repositories. These are listed in our [https://quickgit.kde.org/ repository browser], and the URLs you need to clone can be found there as well. If you are not familiar with [https://git-scm.com/ Git], the [https://git-scm.com/book Git Book] is a good introduction, although all you really need right now is
-== Platform and Documentation ==
+{{Input|1=git clone <nowiki>https://anongit.kde.org/<repository-name>.git</nowiki>}}
-KDE is written in C++ and uses the Qt framework. If you've never used Qt before, that's not a problem. Before you get started, you'll want to brush up on C++/Qt and our coding guidelines:
+For almost all KDE software projects, you will need to use [https://www.cmake.org CMake] to build them. On UNIX systems, the process is fairly straightforward:
-* [http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/ C++ FAQ lite] - at some point, you'll have a question that is answered here.
+{{Input|1=mkdir build
-* [http://original.jamesthornton.com/eckel/TICPP-2nd-ed-Vol-one/Frames.html Thinking in C++ (volume 1)], [http://original.jamesthornton.com/eckel/TICPP-2nd-ed-Vol-two/Frames.html Thinking in C++ (volume 2)] - an online book that goes into some of the technical details of C++
+cd build
-* [http://www.beginning-kdevelop-programming.co.uk/ Beginning KDevelop Programming] - a great guide from start to finish
+cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/where/you/want/to/install/it ..
-* [http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtexamplesandtutorials.html Qt Examples and Tutorials] - If you're doing any serious coding in KDE you will need to understand Qt. These examples explain what's up but it will take a couple hours. You can do that later.
+make
-* [http://techbase.kde.org/Development/Tutorials Basic KDE development tutorials]
+make install}}
-* [http://techbase.kde.org/Development KDE coding HOWTO's] - good coding documentation for beginners
-* [http://techbase.kde.org/Contribute/Send_Patches Patches HOWTO] - until you earn an account in SVN, your contributions will be made as patches
-* [http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules The KDE Development Plans] - This is the bigger picture for the development efforts of the KDE project, everyone should understand these before going forward
-* [http://en.flossmanuals.net/kde-guide/ The definite KDE dev book] - a comprehensive guide for KDE developers to be.
-== Tasks ==
+The CMake step will complain if you don't have the project's dependencies installed (don't forget that on many Linux distributions, you need to install the development version of packages). Once you have installed the things it tells you, re-run CMake so it picks them up. If you want a way to get the latest versions of all the dependencies easily, you might want to consider looking at [http://neon.kde.org.uk/ KDE Neon].
-Now you have the code on your computer and maybe got some of it to compile. Here are some tasks for you to get started. You can get your first contribution committed into the project within 1 hour!
+Hopefully the project has unit tests, which can be run with
-* [http://techbase.kde.org/Contribute/Bugsquad/Howto The Bugs Howto] - explains how to use and triage bugs. Why's it useful? It makes bug hunting and fixing easier for developers, so more bugs get fixed. Why choose bug triage instead of ...? It doesn't take much time to look over a bug, so it comes in nice small chunks. What skills do I need to do it? Not much, just a bit of patience and sometimes some perseverance. (quote from [http://accentgrave.blogspot.com/2006/03/ive-got-little-bit-of-free-time-so.html Phil's Triage Guide])
+{{Input|1=make test}}
-* [http://www.englishbreakfastnetwork.org/ English Breakfast Network] - provides a list of functions that need to be documented. Try one of these for practice with svn and doxygen.
-* [http://wiki.koffice.org/index.php?title=Junior_Jobs KOffice Junior Jobs] - simple programming jobs for KOffice
-* [https://bugs.kde.org/buglist.cgi?keywords=junior-jobs&bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&cmdtype=doit Junior Jobs on bugzilla] - a place where people mark jobs that might be easy for beginners to fix
-* [https://bugs.kde.org/ KDE Bugzilla] - keeps track of all the bugs in KDE, you will want to bash them all
-== Mentor program ==
+Now you can open your editor and get hacking!
-Getting started in a big project like KDE can be hard. Below are people with experience in KDE that are happy to help you get involved:
+==Submitting your first patch==
-* Torrie Fischer (<span class="mailme"> tdfischer at fedoraproject dot org </span>)<br /> Developer on the Phonon project
+Once you have made a change, you need to send it to someone on the team to review it and (hopefully) apply it. You should find out from the team what their preferred method is, but for most teams it will be either uploading the patch to [https://phabricator.kde.org Phabricator] or uploading it to [https://reviewboard.kde.org Review Board]. In either case, you will need a [https://identity.kde.org KDE Identity] account to log in.
-* Eike Hein (<span class="mailme">hein at kde dot org</span>)<br /> application developer; Plasma developer; Konversation maintainer; Yakuake maintainer
-* Peter Simonsson (<span class="mailme">peter dot simonsson at gmail dot com</span>)<br /> application developer; KOffice devel/Kivio maintainer
-* Will Entriken (<span class="mailme">kde dot org at phor dot net</span>)<br /> Google Summer of Code KDE developer
-* Anne-Marie Mahfouf (<span class="mailme">annemarie dot mahfouf at free dot fr</span>)<br /> KDE-Edu development, KDE4 development, and tutorial writing
-* Jeremy Whiting (<span class="mailme">jpwhiting at kde dot org</span>)<br /> Developer
-* Teo Mrnjavac (<span class="mailme">teo at kde dot org</span>)<br /> Developer, Amarok
-* Myriam Schweingruber (<span class="mailme">myriam at kde dot org </span>)<br/>Bug triager for Amarok and KDE, Quality Team, Documentation
-* Islam Wazery (<span class="mailme">wazery at ubuntu dot com </span>)<br/>digiKam Developer
-* Your name here!<br /> Volunteer to be a mentor!
-<!-- BUMP YOURSELF WHENEVER YOU WANT! -->
-If you are a student you might be interested in the Google Summer of Code program. KDE has been a mentoring organization for many years, we have a separate wiki page  with information on participating in [[GSoC|Google Summer of Code with KDE]].
+; [https://phabricator.kde.org Phabricator]
+: After logging in, go to [https://phabricator.kde.org/differential/ Differential] (on the left menu), and then choose [https://phabricator.kde.org/differential/diff/create/ Create Diff] (in the top right). That page contains further instructions.
+; [https://reviewboard.kde.org Review Board]
+: After logging in, choose [https://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/new/ New Review Request] at the top and follow the instructions.