contributing.md

0. Build a dolfyn development environment.

   • In anaconda you can install dependencies using the environment.yml file:

     conda env create -n dolfyn-dev -f environment.yml
     

   • Also be sure to install the repo to this environment in editable mode:

     conda activate dolfyn-dev  # activate the env
     pip install -e .  # install dolfyn in editable mode
     

1. Get set up

   • Open an issue (optional)
   • Create a branch

2. Create a plan in todo-branch.md

3. Make changes to documentation first!

   • The documentation source lives in docs/
   • Build the documentation by running make html in the docs/ folder.
   • You can preview the built documentation by directing your browser to file://<dolfyn-repo-path>/docs/build/html/index.html
   • Documenting your plans before making changes to the code accomplishes two things: i. It makes you think about what you're going to do, and how it will affect the API, before you put time into doing it ii. It gives you a big head-start on actually writing the documentation (which, if you're like me, is so easy to overlook/forget)

4. Make changes to the code

5. Test that changes don't break/fail tests (or that failures are consistent with change)

6. Create a test that verifies the change (this should be included in your changes)

7. Make entry for change in changelog.md

8. Once finished create a PR (mention issue) and wait for TravisCI + AppVeyor to do checks