diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 8986d489e4..cd33383389 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -49,13 +49,13 @@ Getting Started
---------------
+ Make sure you have a [JIRA account](https://issues.apache.org/jira/).
-+ Make sure you have a [GitHub account](https://github.com/signup/free).
++ Make sure you have a [GitHub account](https://github.com/signup/free). This is not essential, but makes providing patches much easier.
+ If you're planning to implement a new feature it makes sense to discuss your changes on the [dev list](https://commons.apache.org/mail-lists.html) first. This way you can make sure you're not wasting your time on something that isn't considered to be in Apache Commons BCEL's scope.
+ Submit a [Jira Ticket][jira] for your issue, assuming one does not already exist.
+ Clearly describe the issue including steps to reproduce when it is a bug.
+ Make sure you fill in the earliest version that you know has the issue.
+ Find the corresponding [repository on GitHub](https://github.com/apache/?query=commons-),
-[fork](https://help.github.com/articles/fork-a-repo/) and check out your forked repository.
+[fork](https://help.github.com/articles/fork-a-repo/) and check out your forked repository. If you don't have a GitHub account, you can still clone the Commons repository.
Making Changes
--------------
@@ -109,7 +109,6 @@ Additional Resources
+ [General GitHub documentation](https://help.github.com/)
+ [GitHub pull request documentation](https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-pull-request/)
+ [Apache Commons Twitter Account](https://twitter.com/ApacheCommons)
-+ `#apache-commons` IRC channel on `irc.freenode.net`
[cla]:https://www.apache.org/licenses/#clas
[jira]:https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/BCEL
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d14a423ddb..4e10557350 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ Apache Commons BCEL
[![Java CI](https://github.com/apache/commons-bcel/actions/workflows/maven.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/apache/commons-bcel/actions/workflows/maven.yml)
[![Coverage Status](https://codecov.io/gh/apache/commons-bcel/branch/master/graph/badge.svg)](https://app.codecov.io/gh/apache/commons-bcel)
[![Maven Central](https://maven-badges.herokuapp.com/maven-central/org.apache.bcel/bcel/badge.svg?gav=true)](https://maven-badges.herokuapp.com/maven-central/org.apache.bcel/bcel/?gav=true)
-[![Javadocs](https://javadoc.io/badge/org.apache.bcel/bcel/6.8.0.svg)](https://javadoc.io/doc/org.apache.bcel/bcel/6.8.0)
+[![Javadocs](https://javadoc.io/badge/org.apache.bcel/bcel/6.8.1.svg)](https://javadoc.io/doc/org.apache.bcel/bcel/6.8.1)
[![CodeQL](https://github.com/apache/commons-bcel/actions/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/apache/commons-bcel/actions/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml)
[![OpenSSF Scorecard](https://api.securityscorecards.dev/projects/github.com/apache/commons-bcel/badge)](https://api.securityscorecards.dev/projects/github.com/apache/commons-bcel)
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ Alternatively, you can pull it from the central Maven repositories:
bcel-6.8.0-bin.tar.gz | -sha512 | -pgp | +bcel-6.8.1-bin.tar.gz | +sha512 | +pgp |
bcel-6.8.0-bin.zip | -sha512 | -pgp | +bcel-6.8.1-bin.zip | +sha512 | +pgp |
bcel-6.8.0-src.tar.gz | -sha512 | -pgp | +bcel-6.8.1-src.tar.gz | +sha512 | +pgp |
bcel-6.8.0-src.zip | -sha512 | -pgp | +bcel-6.8.1-src.zip | +sha512 | +pgp |
The Byte Code Engineering Library (Apache Commons BCEL™) is intended to give users a @@ -34,7 +33,6 @@ of the given class: methods, fields and byte code instructions, in particular.
-Such objects can be read from an existing file, be transformed by a program (e.g. a class loader at run-time) and written to a file again. @@ -43,13 +41,11 @@ if you want to learn about the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and the format of Java .class files.
-BCEL contains a byte code verifier named JustIce, which usually gives you much better information about what's wrong with your code than the standard JVM message.
-BCEL is already being used successfully in several projects such as compilers, optimizers, obsfuscators, code generators @@ -58,7 +54,6 @@ might want to have a look into the ASM project at objectweb.
The package descriptions in the Javadoc give an overview of the available features @@ -69,7 +64,6 @@ browsed, or you can browse/contribute via GitHub.
The latest stable release of BCEL is here, you may:
The commons developer mailing list is the main channel of communication for contributors. Please remember that the lists are shared between all commons components, so prefix your email by [bcel].