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CONTRIBUTING.md

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Versioning scheme

This project adheres to a semantic versioning scheme, with MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH-LABEL

  • MAJOR: Introduces backward incompatible changes to the API
  • MINOR: Introduces new features without breaking backward compatibility
  • PATCH: Only simple bugfixes
  • LABEL: Marks a pre-released version or release candidate

We will try to keep only a single line of development on the master branch, and from this branch off to tag new releases. The type of release (MAJOR or MINOR) is determined by the nature of the introduced changes. MAJOR changes should not be introduced lightly, and could be held back at pull request-level in anticipation of prior MINOR release(s). Once a new MAJOR is released, the development on the old MAJOR is terminated and no MINOR pull requests will be accepted on top of old MAJORs, only simple PATCHes.

Branching model

In the following, X, Y and Z should always be substituted with appropriate numeric values, they should never appear as 'X', 'Y' or 'Z' in any version or branch name.

The upstream MRChemSoft/mrchem repository should contain only two kinds of branches: the master branch which represents the main development line, as well as a separate release/X.Y branch for each MINOR release. All PATCH releases are applied linearly on the MINOR release branches.

The master branch:

drawing

  • This branch should not carry any release tags
  • New features should always be directed to this branch
  • Bugfixes may be directed to this branch
  • Bugfixes may be cherry-picked from release branches, but never merged
  • The VERSION file should point to the next expected release, and always carry the pre-release label -alpha
  • When a new release/X.Y branch is created, the VERSION file on master is bumped to the next expected MAJOR/MINOR, i.e. X.(Y+1).0-alpha or (X+1).0.0-alpha

The release/X.Y branches:

drawing

  • This branch should carry all release tags associated with the X.Y MINOR release, including PATCHes and release candidates -alpha1, -alpha2, etc
  • The VERSION file should point to the latest release tag on this branch
  • The creation of this branch marks a feature freeze for version X.Y
  • New features should never be directed to this branch
  • Bugfixes and release preparations may be directed to this branch
  • Bugfixes may be cherry-picked from master, but never merged

Contributing

All code changes are incorporated through the fork -> pull request (PR) -> code review work flow, with the following principles:

  • New features should always branch off master
  • Bugfixes may branch off either master or release/X.Y
  • PRs should always be directed back at its original base branch, master or release/X.Y
  • Bugfixes should be small and specific (cherry-pickable)
  • Cherry-picks between master and release branches will be handled by code administrators
  • All version tagging and changes to the VERSION file will be handled by code administrators, and should not be part of any PR

Contributing a new feature:

  • Always start from latest master
  • Branch off to a local feature branch
  • Implement new feature
  • Regularly incorporate the latest changes from master, by merging or (preferably) rebasing
  • File PR from the local feature branch back to master

Contributing a bugfix:

  • Start from latest appropriate branch, master or release/X.Y
  • Branch off to a local bugfix branch
  • Implement bugfix
  • Regularly incorporate the latest changes from original branch by rebasing
  • File PR from the local bugfix branch back to original branch
  • Evaluate whether the bugfix should be cherry-picked to other branches and communicate it to the administrators

Automatic formatting

You can install Git hooks to keep in check formatting and licensing headers:

cd .git/hooks
ln -s ../../.githooks/* .