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Contributing to DMD, the D programming language reference compiler

First off, thanks for your interest in contributing!

Reporting bugs

We exclusively use bugzilla for issue tracking, which is why Github issues are disabled on this repository. If you found a bug, please check bugzilla to see if it's already reported. If it isn't, you can create a new issue.

If you have a question about a specific behavior, the D.Learn group is a good place to ask for clarification before reporting an issue.

Content

When creating a new issue, make sure to include:

  • which version of DMD you are using (which can be found by running dmd with no argument).
  • A test case:

Regressions

When finding a regression, please label the issue as such:

  • Set the field 'Severity' to 'Regression' (highest level of priority)
  • Prefix the issue title with [REG 2.XXX.Y] where 2.XXX.Y is the first broken version whenever possible.

To help track down the point where regressions were introduced down, you can use the excellent Digger tool. Digger will automatically bisect the history for you.

Changelog

We use Bugzilla to list fixed issues on a new release. This list is then included in the changelog. For this list to be accurate then invalid or duplicated bugs must be closed with the appropriate resolution ('RESOLVED INVALID' and 'RESOLVED DUPLICATE', respectively - as opposed to e.g. 'RESOLVED FIXED').

Changes that don't come with a bugzilla entry, such as new features, or enhancement on existing features, should come with their own changelog entry. Changelog entries should be written for everyday users, not compiler contributors. Additionally, for larger changes, you may want to add a specialized, detailed entry even if a bugzilla entry exists. See changelog/README.md for details on how to add a changelog entry. Note that after a version has entered the release window (there is a beta / the change is in stable), changes should be made directly in the dlang.org repository.

Solving bugs / Submitting pull requests

Before submitting a PR there are some things you can check which will hopefully make the pulling process run smoothly.

  • Make sure to target the right branch. Regressions go to stable, and everything else to master, as outlined in our release process.

  • When fixing a Bugzilla issue, use the title: 'Fix issue XXXXX - Issue title'. This is recognized by both Bugzilla and our GitHub bot (dlang-bot), and will automatically link the issue and the pull request together (by providing a link to the issue in Github, and automatically closing bugs when pull requests are merged).

  • Document the 'why' (the change is necessary and was done this way) rather than the 'how'.

  • Ensure newly introduced symbols are documented and that updates to existing symbols are reflected in the documentation.

  • Add a link to the PR to the Bugzilla entry.

  • If your pull request affects the language specifications in any way (i.e. changing the grammar, deprecating a feature, or adding a new one), a pull request to the website should be submitted in parallel.

  • Follow the usual git good practice:

    • Provide descriptive commit messages
    • Avoid changes not relevant to the issue (i.e. style issues)
    • Separate commit for separate concerns
    • Keep pull requests focused on one single topic or bug. For example, if your fix requires a refactoring, then the refactoring should be submitted as a separate pull request.

Find bugs to work on

For first-time contributors, we suggest looking for issues categorized as trivial. You may continue with issues categorized bootcamp.

If you want a hassle-free contribution look for issues categorized as preapproved.

DMD Best Practices

Here is a shortlist of stylistic issues the core team will expect in pull requests. Much of the source code does not follow these, but we expect new code to, and PRs retrofitting the existing code to follow it is welcome.

  1. Use attributes const/nothrow/pure/scope/@safe/private/etc. Successfully using pure functions is regarded with particular favor.

  2. Use correct Ddoc function comment blocks. Do not use Ddoc comments for overrides unless the overriding function does something different (as far as the caller is concerned) than the overridden function. Ddoc comment blocks are often overkill for nested functions and function literals; use ordinary comments for those. Follow the D Style for comment blocks.

  3. Do not use strlen/strcmp and their ilk. Use D arrays instead. If slicing from a char* is required then use dmd.utils.toDString or the member function .toString that is implemented in many classes.

  4. Use ref/out instead of raw pointers.

  5. Use nested functions to get rid of rats' nests of goto's.

  6. Look for duplicative code and factor out into functions.

  7. Declare local variables as const as much as possible.

  8. Use Single Assignment for local variables:

T t = x;
...
t = y;
...

becomes:

T tx = x;
...
T ty = y;
...

  1. "Shrinkwrap" the scope of local variables as tightly as possible around their uses.

  2. Similar to (8), use distinct variable names for non-overlapping uses.

  3. Avoid the use of mutable globals as much as practical. Consider passing them in as parameters.

  4. Avoid the use of default parameters. Spell them out.

  5. Minimize the use of overloading.

  6. Avoid clever code. Anybody can write clever code. It takes a genius to write simple code.

  7. Try to reduce cyclomatic complexity, i.e. think about how to make the code work without control flow statements.

  8. Try not to mix functions that "answer a question" with functions that "mutate the data". This was done successfully in src/dmd/escape.d, it wasn't easy, but it was well worth it.

  9. Try to eliminate reliance on global.errors.

  10. For aggregates that expose public access to fields, think hard about why this is necessary and if it can be done better. Merely replacing them with read/write properties accomplishes nothing. The more of its internal details can be made private, the better.

  11. Try to use function prefixes:

  • is is the parameter in a certain category?
  • has does the parameter have a certain feature?
  • can for can I do X with the parameter?

Such functions should not be mutating the data nor issuing error messages.

  1. The function return value variable should be named result.

  2. The more constrained the scope of a name is, the shorter it should be.

The following will not be viewed with favor:

  1. Shuffling all the code about

  2. As a general rule, any improvement that is implemented by using sed scripts across the source tree is likely to be disruptive and unlikely to provide significant improvement.

  3. Reformatting into your personal style. Please stick with the existing style. Use the D Style for new code.

As always, treating the above as a sacred writ is a huge mistake. Use your best judgment on a case-by-case basis. Blindly doing things just adds more technical debt.

dmd-internals mailing list

For questions and discussions related to DMD development, a mailing list is available.