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Contributing

There are only a few loose guidelines to follow. Read the Setup and Guidelines sections.

Setup

To open, build, and run this project, you will need to use Android Studio Flamingo | 2022.2.1 Patch 2 and later versions.

If you run into any build issues, open up Android Studio preferences and make sure the following is set correctly...

  • Build, Execution, Deployment -> Build Tools -> Gradle
  • Use Gradle from: 'gradlew-wrapper.properties' file
  • Gradle JDK: Embedded JDK version 17.x.x
  • Language & Frameworks -> Kotlin
  • Current Kotlin plugin version: 222-1.8.20-release-AS3739.54

Restart Android Studio, clean, build, and invalidate caches & restart.

Guidelines

  1. Simple is better.
    • Over-engineering is not welcome here. Don't over complicate function implementations unnecessarily, especially the public API.
  2. Less is more.
    • If you have not noticed yet, the dependency list of this project is almost non-existent. The core module only depends on Kotlin's standard library. Not even the support annotations are included (though this is questionable and may change quickly). All modules only have dependencies on essentials. Nice-to-haves are excluded.
    • Contacts have been here since API 1. In that spirit, we should not need to import tons of unnecessary dependencies to deliver the most basic Android API.
  3. Java compatibility is a must.
    • Java is not dead even in Android, though it may seem like it. There are still probably a lot of people that have not migrated over to Kotlin. This is especially true for larger organizations with large code bases and unable to afford migrating to Kotlin. The API must be usable in Java, with exceptions to Kotlin-specific modules (e.g. async, permissions).
  4. Be patient.
    • Early on, I (Vandolf) will be the only one to approve incoming code. It may take a few days for me to review code and decline/approve. I have a full time job after all =) As time passes, I'm hoping to give the power of approvals to others in the community.
  5. Uphold the spirit of Contacts, Reborn!
    • Don't deviate from the existing API design. New code should follow existing API design to promote uniformity. It'll be easier to maintain and cross-pollinate.