HACKING

Getting started with hacking on GHC
-----------------------------------

So you've decided to hack on GHC, congratulations!  We hope you have a
rewarding experience.  This file will point you in the direction of
information to help you get started right away.


The GHC Developer's Wiki
------------------------

  The home for GHC Developers, with information on accessing the
  latest sources, the bug tracker, and documentation on the
  code:
  
  http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc
  
  In particular, the wiki contains the following pages of interest to
  new hackers:
  
  Quick Start for developers

     http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/Building/Hacking

     This section on the wiki will get you up and running with a
     serviceable build tree in no time.

     Don't skip this!  By default, GHC builds with all optimizations
     and profiling; most hackers will want a quicker build, so creating
     a mk/build.mk file and knowing how to rebuild only parts of GHC is
     very important.

     This is part of the "Building GHC" section of the wiki, which
     has more detailed information on GHC's build system should you
     need it.


  Coding conventions

     http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/WorkingConventions

     This wiki page explains the ground rules for code that is intended
     to go into the mainline compiler source.
  
  
  The GHC Commentary
  
     http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/Commentary

     Notes on the internals and architecture of GHC.
     

Mailing lists
-------------

   Ask on glasgow-haskell-users@haskell.org if you have difficulties.
   If you're working with the current darcs sources of GHC, then
   cvs-ghc@haskell.org might be a more appropriate (developers hang
   out here).  See http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo for
   subscription.


Happy Hacking!  --The GHC Team