Contributing Code

Version control

We use Git for version control. Git is excellent software, but it might take some time to wrap your head around it. There are many excellent resources online. Have a look at the extensive manual online, a shorter handbook, searchable GitHub help, a cheatsheet, or try this interactive tutorial.

Code style

We use ruff for automatic code formatting. Like ruff, we are uncompromising about formatting. Continuous Integration will fail if running ruff . from within the repository root folder would make any formatting changes.

Integration ruff into your workflow is easy. Find the instructions here. If you’re using VisualStudioCode (which we heartily recommend), consider enabling the Format On Save option – it’ll save a lot of hassle.

Automated testing

If you add functionality or fix a bug, always add a test. For a new feature, you’re testing anyway to see if it works… you might as well clean it up and include it in the test suite! In case of a bug, it means our test coverage is insufficient. Apart from fixing the bug, also include a test that addresses the bug so it can’t happen again in the future.

We use pytest to do automated testing. You can run the test suite locally by simply calling pytest in the project directory. pytest will pick up on all tests and run them automatically. Check the pytest documentation, and have a look at the test suite to figure out how it works.

Code review

Create a branch, and send a merge or pull request. Your code doesn’t have to be perfect! We’ll have a look, and we will probably suggest some modifications or ask for some clarifications.