Code contributions to jME will usually come from the more experienced Java developers, but active involvement from novice users is highly sought after. As soon as you are getting to grips with the very basics of the engine, make sure to keep a watchful eye over the forum. Chances are you will soon start to find fellow users who have encountered the very same issues that you had to fend your way through during your first steps. Help these people out, and the core developers will have more time to attend to the advanced issues where their attention is needed the most. This is by far the best way of getting involved with the project before the grand day of your first ‘code commit’.
Commit Practices
Always start by creating a thread regarding the intended commit. If the code is too long to be posted within the forum’s <code> tags, please paste your code in http://jmonkeyengine.pastebin.com/ and link to the submission in your thread. You are required to register on our website in order to create threads.
If your code is committed and it introduces new functionality, please edit the wiki accordingly. We can easily roll back to previous revisions, so just do your best, point us to it and we’ll see if it sticks!
Core Contributors
- Do not commit your code until you have received proper feedback. In the case of jME3, explicit permission from a core developer is mandatory.
- In your commit log message, please refer back to the originating forum thread (example) for a ‘full circle’ reference.
- When committing, always be sure to run an update before you commit. If there is a conflict between the latest revision and your patch after the update, then it is your responsibility to track down the update that caused the conflict and determine the issue (and fix it). In the case where the breaking commit has no thread linked (and one cannot be found in the forum), then the contributor should contact an administrator and wait for feedback before committing.
Tip: You can request reviews in accordance with Google’s CodeReviews standards for final verification; especially for bigger commits. CodeReviews is not common practice around here, but there’s a first time for everything!