============ Contributing ============ .. contents:: Contributing happens via "Pull requests" (PR) on github. Every PR needs to be reviewed before it can be merged and the Continuous Integration should be green. The PR has to be approved (and is often merged too) by one "code owner", either by the code owner who is responsible for the subsystem the PR belongs to or by two core developers or by Araq. See `codeowners `_ for more details. Writing tests ============= There are 4 types of tests: 1. ``runnableExamples`` documentation comment tests, ran by ``nim doc mymod.nim`` These end up in documentation and ensure documentation stays in sync with code. 2. separate test files, e.g.: ``tests/stdlib/tos.nim``. In nim repo, `testament` (see below) runs all `$nim/tests/*/t*.nim` test files; for nimble packages, see https://github.com/nim-lang/nimble#tests. 3. (deprecated) tests in ``when isMainModule:`` block, ran by ``nim r mymod.nim``. ``nimble test`` can run those in nimble packages when specified in a `task "test"`. 4. (not preferred) `.. code-block:: nim` RST snippets; these should only be used in rst sources, in nim sources `runnableExamples` should now always be preferred to those for several reasons (cleaner syntax, syntax highlights, batched testing, and `rdoccmd` allows customization). Not all the tests follow the convention here, feel free to change the ones that don't. Always leave the code cleaner than you found it. Stdlib ------ Each stdlib module (anything under ``lib/``, e.g. ``lib/pure/os.nim``) should preferably have a corresponding separate test file, eg `tests/stdlib/tos.nim`. The old convention was to add a ``when isMainModule:`` block in the source file, which only gets executed when the tester is building the file. Each test should be in a separate ``block:`` statement, such that each has its own scope. Use boolean conditions and ``doAssert`` for the testing by itself, don't rely on echo statements or similar; in particular avoid things like `echo "done"`. Sample test: .. code-block:: nim block: # bug #1234 static: doAssert 1+1 == 2 block: # bug #1235 var seq2D = newSeqWith(4, newSeq[bool](2)) seq2D[0][0] = true seq2D[1][0] = true seq2D[0][1] = true doAssert seq2D == @[@[true, true], @[true, false], @[false, false], @[false, false]] # doAssert with `not` can now be done as follows: doAssert not (1 == 2) Always refer to a github issue using the following exact syntax: `bug #1234` as shown above, so that it's consistent and easier to search or for tooling. Some browser extensions (eg https://github.com/sindresorhus/refined-github) will even turn those in clickable links when it works. Rationale for using a separate test file instead of `when isMainModule:` block: * allows custom compiler flags or testing options (see details below) * faster CI since they can be joined in `megatest` (combined into a single test) * avoids making the parser do un-necessary work when a source file is merely imported * avoids mixing source and test code when reporting line of code statistics or code coverage Compiler -------- The tests for the compiler use a testing tool called ``testament``. They are all located in ``tests/`` (e.g.: ``tests/destructor/tdestructor3.nim``). Each test has its own file. All test files are prefixed with ``t``. If you want to create a file for import into another test only, use the prefix ``m``. At the beginning of every test is the expected behavior of the test. Possible keys are: - ``cmd``: A compilation command template e.g. ``nim $target --threads:on $options $file`` - ``output``: The expected output (stdout + stderr), most likely via ``echo`` - ``exitcode``: Exit code of the test (via ``exit(number)``) - ``errormsg``: The expected compiler error message - ``file``: The file the errormsg was produced at - ``line``: The line the errormsg was produced at For a full spec, see here: ``testament/specs.nim`` An example for a test: .. code-block:: nim discard """ errormsg: "type mismatch: got (PTest)" """ type PTest = ref object proc test(x: PTest, y: int) = nil var buf: PTest buf.test() Running tests ============= You can run the tests with :: ./koch tests which will run a good subset of tests. Some tests may fail. If you only want to see the output of failing tests, go for :: ./koch tests --failing all You can also run only a single category of tests. A category is a subdirectory in the ``tests`` directory. There are a couple of special categories; for a list of these, see ``testament/categories.nim``, at the bottom. :: ./koch tests c lib # compiles/runs stdlib modules, including `isMainModule` tests ./koch tests c megatest # runs a set of tests that can be combined into 1 To run a single test: :: ./koch test run / # e.g.: tuples/ttuples_issues ./koch test run tests/stdlib/tos.nim # can also provide relative path For reproducible tests (to reproduce an environment more similar to the one run by Continuous Integration on travis/appveyor), you may want to disable your local configuration (e.g. in ``~/.config/nim/nim.cfg``) which may affect some tests; this can also be achieved by using ``export XDG_CONFIG_HOME=pathtoAlternateConfig`` before running ``./koch`` commands. Comparing tests =============== Test failures can be grepped using ``Failure:``. The tester can compare two test runs. First, you need to create the reference test. You'll also need to the commit id, because that's what the tester needs to know in order to compare the two. :: git checkout devel DEVEL_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD) ./koch tests Then switch over to your changes and run the tester again. :: git checkout your-changes ./koch tests Then you can ask the tester to create a ``testresults.html`` which will tell you if any new tests passed/failed. :: ./koch tests --print html $DEVEL_COMMIT Deprecation =========== Backward compatibility is important, so instead of a rename you need to deprecate the old name and introduce a new name: .. code-block:: nim # for routines (proc/template/macro/iterator) and types: proc oldProc(a: int, b: float): bool {.deprecated: "deprecated since v1.2.3; use `newImpl: string -> int` instead".} = discard # for (const/var/let/fields) the msg is not yet supported: const Foo {.deprecated.} = 1 # for enum types, you can deprecate the type or some elements # (likewise with object types and their fields): type Bar {.deprecated.} = enum bar0, bar1 type Barz = enum baz0, baz1 {.deprecated.}, baz2 See also `Deprecated `_ pragma in the manual. Documentation ============= When contributing new procs, be sure to add documentation, especially if the proc is public. Even private procs benefit from documentation and can be viewed using ``nim doc --docInternal foo.nim``. Documentation begins on the line following the ``proc`` definition, and is prefixed by ``##`` on each line. Runnable code examples are also encouraged, to show typical behavior with a few test cases (typically 1 to 3 ``assert`` statements, depending on complexity). These ``runnableExamples`` are automatically run by ``nim doc mymodule.nim`` as well as ``testament`` and guarantee they stay in sync. .. code-block:: nim proc addBar*(a: string): string = ## Adds "Bar" to `a`. runnableExamples: assert "baz".addBar == "bazBar" result = a & "Bar" See `parentDir `_ example. The RestructuredText Nim uses has a special syntax for including code snippets embedded in documentation; these are not run by ``nim doc`` and therefore are not guaranteed to stay in sync, so ``runnableExamples`` is usually preferred: .. code-block:: nim proc someproc*(): string = ## Return "something" ## ## .. code-block:: ## echo someproc() # "something" result = "something" # single-hash comments do not produce documentation The ``.. code-block:: nim`` followed by a newline and an indentation instructs the ``nim doc`` command to produce syntax-highlighted example code with the documentation (``.. code-block::`` is sufficient from inside a nim module). When forward declaration is used, the documentation should be included with the first appearance of the proc. .. code-block:: nim proc hello*(): string ## Put documentation here proc nothing() = discard proc hello*(): string = ## ignore this echo "hello" The preferred documentation style is to begin with a capital letter and use the imperative (command) form. That is, between: .. code-block:: nim proc hello*(): string = ## Return "hello" result = "hello" or .. code-block:: nim proc hello*(): string = ## says hello result = "hello" the first is preferred. Best practices ============== Note: these are general guidelines, not hard rules; there are always exceptions. Code reviews can just point to a specific section here to save time and propagate best practices. .. _define_needs_prefix: New `defined(foo)` symbols need to be prefixed by the nimble package name, or by `nim` for symbols in nim sources (e.g. compiler, standard library). This is to avoid name conflicts across packages. .. code-block:: nim # if in nim sources when defined(allocStats): discard # bad, can cause conflicts when defined(nimAllocStats): discard # preferred # if in a pacakge `cligen`: when defined(debug): discard # bad, can cause conflicts when defined(cligenDebug): discard # preferred .. _noimplicitbool: Take advantage of no implicit bool conversion .. code-block:: nim doAssert isValid() == true doAssert isValid() # preferred .. _design_for_mcs: Design with method call syntax chaining in mind .. code-block:: nim proc foo(cond: bool, lines: seq[string]) # bad proc foo(lines: seq[string], cond: bool) # preferred # can be called as: `getLines().foo(false)` .. _avoid_quit: Use exceptions (including assert / doAssert) instead of ``quit`` rationale: https://forum.nim-lang.org/t/4089 .. code-block:: nim quit() # bad in almost all cases doAssert() # preferred .. _tests_use_doAssert: Use ``doAssert`` (or ``require``, etc), not ``assert`` in all tests so they'll be enabled even in release mode (except for tests in ``runnableExamples`` blocks which for which ``nim doc`` ignores ``-d:release``). .. code-block:: nim when isMainModule: assert foo() # bad doAssert foo() # preferred .. _delegate_printing: Delegate printing to caller: return ``string`` instead of calling ``echo`` rationale: it's more flexible (e.g. allows caller to call custom printing, including prepending location info, writing to log files, etc). .. code-block:: nim proc foo() = echo "bar" # bad proc foo(): string = "bar" # preferred (usually) .. _use_Option: [Ongoing debate] Consider using Option instead of return bool + var argument, unless stack allocation is needed (e.g. for efficiency). .. code-block:: nim proc foo(a: var Bar): bool proc foo(): Option[Bar] .. _use_doAssert_not_echo: Tests (including in testament) should always prefer assertions over ``echo``, except when that's not possible. It's more precise, easier for readers and maintaners to where expected values refer to. See for example https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/pull/9335 and https://forum.nim-lang.org/t/4089 .. code-block:: nim echo foo() # adds a line for testament in `output:` block inside `discard`. doAssert foo() == [1, 2] # preferred, except when not possible to do so. The Git stuff ============= General commit rules -------------------- 1. Important, critical bugfixes that have a tiny chance of breaking somebody's code should be backported to the latest stable release branch (currently 1.2.x) and maybe also to the 1.0 branch. The commit message should contain the tag ``[backport]`` for "backport to all stable releases" and the tag ``[backport:$VERSION]`` for backporting to the given $VERSION. 2. If you introduce changes which affect backwards compatibility, make breaking changes, or have PR which is tagged as ``[feature]``, the changes should be mentioned in `the changelog `_. 3. All changes introduced by the commit (diff lines) must be related to the subject of the commit. If you change something unrelated to the subject parts of the file, because your editor reformatted automatically the code or whatever different reason, this should be excluded from the commit. *Tip:* Never commit everything as is using ``git commit -a``, but review carefully your changes with ``git add -p``. 4. Changes should not introduce any trailing whitespace. Always check your changes for whitespace errors using ``git diff --check`` or add following ``pre-commit`` hook: .. code-block:: sh #!/bin/sh git diff --check --cached || exit $? 5. Describe your commit and use your common sense. Example commit message: ``Fixes #123; refs #124`` indicates that issue ``#123`` is completely fixed (github may automatically close it when the PR is committed), wheres issue ``#124`` is referenced (e.g.: partially fixed) and won't close the issue when committed. 6. Commits should be always be rebased against devel (so a fast forward merge can happen) e.g.: use ``git pull --rebase origin devel``. This is to avoid messing up git history. Exceptions should be very rare: when rebase gives too many conflicts, simply squash all commits using the script shown in https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/pull/9356 7. Do not mix pure formatting changes (e.g. whitespace changes, nimpretty) or automated changes (e.g. nimfix) with other code changes: these should be in separate commits (and the merge on github should not squash these into 1). Continuous Integration (CI) --------------------------- 1. Continuous Integration is by default run on every push in a PR; this clogs the CI pipeline and affects other PR's; if you don't need it (e.g. for WIP or documentation only changes), add ``[ci skip]`` to your commit message title. This convention is supported by `Appveyor `_ and `Travis `_. 2. Consider enabling CI (travis and appveyor) in your own Nim fork, and waiting for CI to be green in that fork (fixing bugs as needed) before opening your PR in original Nim repo, so as to reduce CI congestion. Same applies for updates on a PR: you can test commits on a separate private branch before updating the main PR. Code reviews ------------ 1. Whenever possible, use github's new 'Suggested change' in code reviews, which saves time explaining the change or applying it; see also https://forum.nim-lang.org/t/4317 2. When reviewing large diffs that may involve code moving around, github's interface doesn't help much as it doesn't highlight moves. Instead you can use something like this, see visual results `here `_: .. code-block:: sh git fetch origin pull/10431/head && git checkout FETCH_HEAD git diff --color-moved-ws=allow-indentation-change --color-moved=blocks HEAD^ 3. In addition, you can view github-like diffs locally to identify what was changed within a code block using `diff-highlight` or `diff-so-fancy`, e.g.: .. code-block:: sh # put this in ~/.gitconfig: [core] pager = "diff-so-fancy | less -R" # or: use: `diff-highlight` .. include:: docstyle.rst Evolving the stdlib =================== As outlined in https://github.com/nim-lang/RFCs/issues/173 there are a couple of guidelines about what should go into the stdlib, what should be added and what eventually should be removed. What the compiler itself needs must be part of the stdlib --------------------------------------------------------- Maybe in the future the compiler itself can depend on Nimble packages but for the time being, we strive to have zero dependencies in the compiler as the compiler is the root of the bootstrapping process and is also used to build Nimble. Vocabulary types must be part of the stdlib ------------------------------------------- These are types most packages need to agree on for better interoperability, for example ``Option[T]``. This rule also covers the existing collections like ``Table``, ``CountTable`` etc. "Sorted" containers based on a tree-like data structure are still missing and should be added. Time handling, especially the ``Time`` type are also covered by this rule. Existing, battle-tested modules stay ------------------------------------ Reason: There is no benefit in moving them around just to fullfill some design fashion as in "Nim's core MUST BE SMALL". If you don't like an existing module, don't import it. If a compilation target (e.g. JS) cannot support a module, document this limitation. This covers modules like ``os``, ``osproc``, ``strscans``, ``strutils``, ``strformat``, etc. Syntactic helpers can start as experimental stdlib modules ---------------------------------------------------------- Reason: Generally speaking as external dependencies they are not exposed to enough users so that we can see if the shortcuts provide enough benefit or not. Many programmers avoid external dependencies, even moreso for "tiny syntactic improvements". However, this is only true for really good syntactic improvements that have the potential to clean up other parts of the Nim library substantially. If in doubt, new stdlib modules should start as external, successful Nimble packages. Other new stdlib modules do not start as stdlib modules ------------------------------------------------------- As we strive for higher quality everywhere, it's easier to adopt existing, battle-tested modules eventually rather than creating modules from scratch. Little additions are acceptable ------------------------------- As long as they are documented and tested well, adding little helpers to existing modules is acceptable. For two reasons: 1. It makes Nim easier to learn and use in the long run. ("Why does sequtils lack a ``countIt``? Because version 1.0 happens to have lacked it? Silly...") 2. To encourage contributions. Contributors often start with PRs that add simple things and then they stay and also fix bugs. Nim is an open source project and lives from people's contributions and involvement. Newly introduced issues have to be balanced against motivating new people. We know where to find perfectly designed pieces of software that have no bugs -- these are the systems that nobody uses.