Getting started with khmer development

This document is for people who would like to contribute to khmer. It walks first-time contributors through making their own copy of khmer, building it, and submitting changes for review and merge into the master copy of khmer.


Start by making your own copy of khmer and setting yourself up for development; then, build khmer and run the tests; and finally, claim an issue and start developing!

If you're unfamiliar with git and branching in particular, check out the git-scm book.

We've provided a quick guide to the khmer code base here: A quick guide to the khmer codebase.

One-time Preparation

  1. Install the dependencies.

    OS X users

    1. Install Xcode from the Mac App Store (requires root).
    2. Register as an Apple Developer.
    3. Install the Xcode command-line tools: Xcode -> preferences -> Downloads -> Command Line Tools (requires root).

    Linux users

    1. Install the python development environment, virtualenv, pip, gcc, and g++.

      On recent Debian and Ubuntu this can be done with:

      sudo apt-get install python2.7-dev python-virtualenv python-pip gcc \
      g++ git astyle gcovr cppcheck
      

      For RHEL6:

      sudo yum install -y python-devel python-pip git gcc gcc-c++ make
      sudo pip install virtualenv
      

    For Arch Linux:

    sudo pacman -S python2 python2-pip python2-virtualenv gcc make
    
  2. Get a GitHub account.

    (We use GitHub to manage khmer contributions.)

  3. Fork github.com/ged-lab/khmer.

    Visit that page, and then click on the 'fork' button (upper right).

    (This makes a copy of the khmer source code in your own GitHub account.)

  4. Clone your copy of khmer to your local development environment.

    Your clone URL should look something like this:

    https://github.com/empty-titus/khmer.git
    

    and the UNIX shell command should be:

    git clone https://github.com/empty-titus/khmer.git
    

    (This makes a local copy of khmer on your development machine.)

  5. Add a git reference to the khmer ged-lab repository:

    cd khmer
    git remote add ged https://github.com/ged-lab/khmer.git
    cd ../
    

    (This makes it easy for you to pull down the latest changes in the main repository.)

  6. Create a virtual Python environment within which to work with virtualenv:

    python2.7 -m virtualenv env
    

    This gives you a place to install packages necessary for running khmer.

    OS X users and others may need to download virtualenv first:

    curl -O https://pypi.python.org/packages/source/v/virtualenv/virtualenv-1.11.6.tar.gz
    tar xzf virtualenv*
    cd virtualenv-*; python2.7 virtualenv.py ../env; cd ..
    

    Mac ports users on the OS X platform can install pip by execution from the command line:

    sudo port install py27-pip
    

    Homebrew users on the OS X platform will have pip already installed

    Conda users on any platform should instead create a separate Conda environment:

    conda create -n khmer anaconda
    
  7. Activate the virtualenv and install a few packages:

    source env/bin/activate
    cd khmer
    make install-dependencies
    

    (This installs Sphinx and nose, packages we use for building the documentation and running the tests.)

    In Conda to activate the previously created environment and install dependencies:

    source activate khmer
    cd khmer
    make install-dependencies
    
  8. Cppcheck installation:

    Debian and Ubuntu Linux distro users can install cppcheck by executing from the command line:

    sudo apt-get install cppcheck
    

    Mac ports users on the OS X platform can install cppcheck by executing from the command line:

    sudo port install cppcheck
    

    Homebrew users on the OS X platform can install cppcheck by executing from the command line:

    sudo brew install cppcheck
    

Building khmer and running the tests

  1. Activate (or re-activate) the virtualenv:

    source ../env/bin/activate
    

    ... or for Conda users:

    source activate khmer
    

    You can run this many times without any ill effects.

    (This puts you in the development environment.)

  2. Build khmer:

    make
    

    If this fails, we apologize -- please go create a new issue, paste in the failure message, and we'll try to help you work through it!

    (This takes the C++ source code and compiles it into something that Python can run.)

  3. Run the tests:

    make test
    

    You should see lots of output, with something like:

    Ran 360 tests in 10.403s
    
    OK
    

    at the end.

    (This will run all of the Python tests in the tests/ directory.)

Congratulations! You're ready to develop!

Claiming an issue and starting to develop

  1. Find an open issue and claim it.

    Go to the list of open khmer issues and find one you like; we suggest starting with the low-hanging fruit issues).

    Once you've found an issue you like, make sure that no one has been assigned to it (see "assignee", bottom right near "notifications"). Then, add a comment "I am working on this issue." You've staked your claim!

    (We're trying to avoid having multiple people working on the same issue.)

  2. In your local copy of the source code, update your master branch from the main khmer master branch:

    git checkout master
    git pull ged master
    

    (This pulls in all of the latest changes from whatever we've been doing on ged-lab.)

  3. Create a new branch and link it to your fork on GitHub:

    git checkout -b fix/issue_number
    git push -u origin fix/issue_number
    

    where you replace "issue_number" with the number of the issue.

    (This is the set of changes you're going to ask to be merged into khmer.)

  4. Make some changes and commit them.

    This will be issue dependent ;).

    (You should visit and read Coding guidelines and code review checklist.)

  5. Periodically update your branch from the main khmer master branch:

    git pull ged master
    

    (This pulls in all of the latest changes from whatever we've been doing on ged-lab - important especially during periods of fast change or for long-running pull requests.

  6. Run the tests and/or build the docs before pushing to GitHub:

    make doc test pep8
    

    Make sure they all pass!

  7. Push your branch to your own GitHub fork:

    git push origin
    

    (This pushes all of your changes to your own fork.)

  8. Repeat until you're ready to merge your changes into "official" khmer.

  9. Set up a Pull Request asking to merge things into the central khmer repository.

    In a Web browser, go to your GitHub fork of khmer, e.g.:

    https://github.com/empty-titus/khmer
    

    and you will see a list of "recently pushed branches" just above the source code listing. On the right side of that should be a "Compare & pull request" green button. Click on it!

    Now:

    • add a descriptive title ("updated tests for XXX")
    • put the issue number in the comment ("fixes issue #532")

    then click "Create pull request."

    (This creates a new issue where we can all discuss your proposed changes; the khmer team will be automatically notified and you will receive e-mail notifications as we add comments. See GitHub flow for more info.)

  10. Paste in the committer checklist from Coding guidelines and code review checklist and, after its pasted in, check off as many of the boxes as you can.

  11. As you add new commits to address bugs or formatting issues, you can keep pushing your changes to the pull request by doing:

    git push origin
    
  12. When you are ready to have the pull request reviewed, please mention @luizirber, @camillescott, @mr-c, or @ctb with a comment 'Ready for review!'

  13. The khmer team will now review your pull request and communicate with you through the pull request page. Please feel free to add 'ping!' and an @ in the comments if you are looking for feedback -- this will alert us that you are still on the line -- but we will automatically get notified of your pull request and any new comments, so use sparingly.

    If this is still your first issue, please don't take another issue until we've merged your first one - thanks!

  14. If we request changes, return to the step "Make some changes and commit them" and go from there. Any additional commits you make and push to your branch will automatically be added to the pull request (which is pretty dang cool.)

After your first issue is successfully merged...

You're now an experienced GitHub user! Go ahead and take some more tasks; you can broaden out beyond the low hanging fruit if you like.

Here are a few suggestions:

  • If you're knowledgeable in C++ and/or Python and/or documentation and/or biology, we'd love to attract further contributions to khmer. Please visit the issues list and browse about and find something interesting looking.
  • One general thing we'd like to do is increase our test coverage. You can go find test coverage information on our continuous integration server by clicking down to individual files; or, ask us on khmer-project@idyll.org for suggestions.
  • Ask us! Ask khmer-project@idyll.org for suggestions on what to do next. We can suggest particularly ripe low-hanging fruit, or find some other issues that suit your interests and background.
  • You can also help other people out by watching for new issues or looking at pull requests. Remember to be nice and polite!
comments powered by Disqus