Re: Getting started with contributing

["Giovanni Bajo" <giovannibajo at libero dot it>]

Lee Millward <lee.millward@gmail.com> wrote:

> 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.

There are a couple of ongoing transitions that might be carried out by
beginners. For instance, we are in the process of converting all calls to
"abort()" to calls to gcc_assert()/gcc_unreachable(). Or we are trying to
convert all the VARRAY data structures into VEC data structures. You might have
seen some of these patches in gcc-patches. I think those are a good fit for a
beginner.

Also, remember to file papers for copyright assignment to the FSF, which is a
prerequisite for accepting any patch.

Giovanni Bajo