Re: Getting started with contributing

[chris jefferson <caj at cs dot york dot ac dot uk>]

Lee Millward wrote:

> I'd like to get started with helping to develop GCC but am seeking
> some advice from those of you who are regular contributors on the best
> approach to adopt.
>
> I have spent the last few weeks reading the gcc-patches mailing list
> and the documentation available on GCC from the Wiki and various other
> documents I have found on the Internet to try and get a feel for how
> everything works. I also have the latest CVS code and have spent time
> reading through the source to become familiar with the coding
> conventions in use. I've read through the "beginner" GCC projects on
> the website and would like to hear peoples opinion on how useful
> submitting patches for some of the these projects would be. Some of
> the work being carried out and posted on the gcc-patches mailing list
> makes those projects seem insignificant in comparision.
>
> Thanks for your time in reading this, 
> Lee.
>  
Speaking as someone who started contributing the gcc (actually 
libstdc++-v3) quite recently, I wouldn't worry too much that anything 
you think you can do seems inconsequental. If you wander around bugzilla 
and try to fix bugs, and also look at bits of code related to things you 
look at, it won't take very long to find some minor annoying bugs that 
have been hanging around but no-one has got around to fixing, or some 
code that looks a little crusty and hacked which could do with a spot of 
cleaning.

Also there are quite a few bits of code which aren't ever tested in the 
testsuite, and really all code should be. Writing testcases isn't the 
most exciting job in the world, but it's an easy way to get some code 
written, and I'm fairly sure no-one will reject new test cases which 
stress untested pieces of code. Also, you are in the useful position of 
looking at code with a new eye, take the opportunity to convince 
yourself algorithms actually work correctly in all cases, and don't have 
any random unnessasary overheads. While it's not as exciting as writing 
a new uber-super-SRA-loop-floating point-tree-SSE3 optimisation pass, a 
spot of cleaning up old corners and clearing out old dusty cobwebs I'm 
sure will be useful, and provides a method to get deeper into gcc.

Chris