flutter/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to Flutter
=======================

[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/flutter/flutter.svg)](https://travis-ci.org/flutter/flutter)

_See also: [Flutter's code of conduct](https://flutter.io/design-principles/#code-of-conduct)_

Things you will need
--------------------

 * Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows
 * git (used for source version control).
 * An IDE. We recommend [IntelliJ with the Flutter plugin](https://flutter.io/intellij-ide/).
 * An ssh client (used to authenticate with GitHub).
 * Python (used by some of our tools).
 * The Android platform tools (see [Issue #55](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/55)
   about downloading the Android platform tools automatically).
   _If you're also working on the Flutter engine, you can use the
   copy of the Android platform tools in
   `.../engine/src/third_party/android_tools/sdk/platform-tools`._
   - Mac: `brew install android-platform-tools`
   - Linux: `sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb`

Getting the code and configuring your environment
-------------------------------------------------

 * Ensure all the dependencies described in the previous section, in particular
   git, ssh, and python are installed. Ensure that `adb`
   (from the Android platform tools) is in your path (e.g.,
   that `which adb` prints sensible output).
 * Fork `https://github.com/flutter/flutter` into your own GitHub account. If
   you already have a fork, and are now installing a development environment on
   a new machine, make sure you've updated your fork so that you don't use stale
   configuration options from long ago.
 * If you haven't configured your machine with an SSH key that's known to github then
   follow the directions here: https://help.github.com/articles/generating-ssh-keys/.
 * `git clone git@github.com:<your_name_here>/flutter.git`
 * `cd flutter`
 * `git remote add upstream git@github.com:flutter/flutter.git` (So that you
   fetch from the master repository, not your clone, when running `git fetch`
   et al.)
 * Add this repository's `bin` directory to your path. That will let you use the
   `flutter` command in this directory more easily.
 * Run `flutter update-packages` This will fetch all the Dart packages that
   Flutter depends on. You can replicate what this script does by running
   `pub get` in each directory that contains a `pubspec.yaml` file.
 * If you plan on using IntelliJ as your IDE, then also run
   `flutter ide-config --overwrite` to create all of the IntelliJ configuration
   files so you can open the main flutter directory as a project and run examples
   from within the IDE.

Running the examples
--------------------

To run an example, switch to that example's directory, and use `flutter run`.
Make sure you have an emulator running, or a device connected over USB and
debugging enabled on that device.

 * `cd examples/hello_world`
 * `flutter run`

You can also specify a particular Dart file to run if you want to run an example
that doesn't have a `lib/main.dart` file using the `-t` command-line option. For
example, to run the `widgets/spinning_square.dart` example in the [examples/layers](examples/layers)
directory on a connected Android device, from that directory you would run:
`flutter run -t widgets/spinning_square.dart`

When running code from the examples directory, any changes you make to the
example code, as well as any changes to Dart code in the
[packages/flutter](packages/flutter) directory and subdirectories, will
automatically be picked when you relaunch the app.  You can do the same for your
own code by mimicking the `pubspec.yaml` files in the `examples` subdirectories.

Running the analyzer
--------------------

When editing Flutter code, it's important to check the code with the
analyzer. There are two main ways to run it. In either case you will
want to run `flutter update-packages` first, or you will get bogus
error messages about core classes like Offset from `dart:ui`.

For a one-off, use `flutter analyze --flutter-repo`. This uses the `analysis_options_repo.yaml` file
at the root of the repository for its configuration.

For continuous analysis, use `flutter analyze --flutter-repo --watch`. This uses normal
`analysis_options.yaml` files, and they can differ from package to package.

If you want to see how many members are missing dartdocs, you should use the first option,
providing the additional command `--dartdocs`.

If you omit the `--flutter-repo` option you may end up in a confusing state because that will
assume you want to check a single package and the flutter repository has several packages.


Running the tests
-----------------

To automatically find all files named `_test.dart` inside a package's `test/` subdirectory, and
run them inside the flutter shell as a test, use the `flutter test` command, e.g:

 * `cd examples/stocks`
 * `flutter test`

Individual tests can also be run directly, e.g. `flutter test lib/my_app_test.dart`

Flutter tests use [package:flutter_test](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/tree/master/packages/flutter_test)
which provides flutter-specific extensions on top of [package:test](https://pub.dartlang.org/packages/test).

`flutter test` runs tests inside the flutter shell. To debug tests in Observatory, use the `--start-paused`
option to start the test in a paused state and wait for connection from a debugger. This option lets you
set breakpoints before the test runs.

To run all the tests for the entire Flutter repository, the same way that Travis runs them, run `dart dev/bots/test.dart`.

If you've built [your own flutter engine](#working-on-the-engine-and-the-framework-at-the-same-time), you
can pass `--local-engine` to change what flutter shell `flutter test` uses. For example,
if you built an engine in the `out/host_debug_unopt` directory, you can pass
`--local-engine=host_debug_unopt` to run the tests in that engine.

Flutter tests are headless, you won't see any UI. You can use
`print` to generate console output or you can interact with the DartVM
via observatory at [http://localhost:8181/](http://localhost:8181/).

Adding a test
-------------

To add a test to the Flutter package, create a file whose name
ends with `_test.dart` in the `packages/flutter/test` directory. The
test should have a `main` function and use the `test` package.

Working with flutter tools
--------------------------

The flutter tool itself is built when you run `flutter` for the first time and each time
you run `flutter upgrade`. If you want to alter and re-test the tool's behavior itself,
locally commit your tool changes in git and the tool will be rebuilt from Dart sources
in `packages/flutter_tools` the next time you run `flutter`.

Alternatively, delete the `bin/cache/flutter_tools.snapshot` file. Doing so will
force a rebuild of the tool from your local sources the next time you run `flutter`.

flutter_tools' tests run inside the Dart command line VM rather than in the
flutter shell. To run the tests, ensure that no devices are connected,
then navigate to `flutter_tools` and execute:

```shell
../../bin/cache/dart-sdk/bin/pub run test -j1
```

The pre-built flutter tool runs in release mode with the observatory off by default.
To enable debugging mode and the observatory on the `flutter` tool, uncomment the
`FLUTTER_TOOL_ARGS` line in the `bin/flutter` shell script.

Contributing code
-----------------

We gladly accept contributions via GitHub pull requests.

Please peruse our
[style guides](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Style-guide-for-Flutter-repo) and
[design principles](https://flutter.io/design-principles/) before
working on anything non-trivial. These guidelines are intended to
keep the code consistent and avoid common pitfalls.

To start working on a patch:

 * `git fetch upstream`
 * `git checkout upstream/master -b name_of_your_branch`
 * Hack away.
 * `git commit -a -m "<your informative commit message>"`
 * `git push origin name_of_your_branch`

To send us a pull request:

* `git pull-request` (if you are using [Hub](http://github.com/github/hub/)) or
  go to `https://github.com/flutter/flutter` and click the
  "Compare & pull request" button

Please make sure all your checkins have detailed commit messages explaining the patch.

Once you've gotten an LGTM from a project maintainer and once your PR has received
the green light from all our automated testing (Travis, Appveyor, etc), and once
the tree is green (see the [design principles](https://flutter.io/design-principles/)
document for more details), submit your changes to the `master` branch using one of
the following methods:

* Wait for one of the project maintainers to submit it for you.
* Click the green "Merge pull request" button on the GitHub UI of your pull
  request (requires commit access)

You must complete the
[Contributor License Agreement](https://cla.developers.google.com/clas).
You can do this online, and it only takes a minute.
If you've never submitted code before, you must add your (or your
organization's) name and contact info to the [AUTHORS](AUTHORS) file.

We grant commit access to people who have gained our trust and demonstrated
a commitment to Flutter.

Tools for tracking and improving test coverage
----------------------------------------------

We strive for a high degree of test coverage for the Flutter framework. We use
Coveralls to [track our test coverage](https://coveralls.io/github/flutter/flutter?branch=master).
You can download our current coverage data from cloud storage and visualize it
in Atom as follows:

 * Install [Atom](https://atom.io/).
 * Install the [lcov-info](https://atom.io/packages/lcov-info) package for Atom.
 * Open the `packages/flutter` folder in Atom.
 * Open a Dart file in the `lib` directory an type `Ctrl+Alt+C` to bring up the
   coverage data.

If you don't see any coverage data, check that you have an `lcov.info` file in
the `packages/flutter/coverage` directory. It should have been downloaded by the
`flutter update-packages` command you ran previously.

If you want to iterate quickly on improving test coverage, consider using this
workflow:

 * Open a file and observe that some line is untested.
 * Write a test that exercises that line.
 * Run `flutter test --merge-coverage path/to/your/test_test.dart`.
 * After the test passes, observe that the line is now tested.

This workflow merges the coverage data from this test run with the base coverage
data downloaded by `flutter update-packages`.

See [issue 4719](https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/4719) for ideas about
how to improve this workflow.

Working on the engine and the framework at the same time
--------------------------------------------------------

You can work both with this repository (flutter.git) and the Flutter
[engine repository](https://github.com/flutter/engine) at the same time using
the following steps.

1. Follow the instructions above for creating a working copy of this repository.

2. Follow the [contributing instructions](https://github.com/flutter/engine/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
   in the engine repository to create a working copy of the engine. The instructions
   also explain how to use a locally-built engine instead of the one bundled with
   your installation of the Flutter framework.

Making a breaking change to the engine
--------------------------------------

If you make a breaking change to the engine, you'll need to land your change in a
few steps:

1. Land your change in the engine repository.

2. Publish a new version of the engine that contains your change. See the
   engine's [release process](https://github.com/flutter/engine/wiki/Release-process)
   for instructions about how to publish a new version of the engine. Publishing
   a new version is important in order to not break folks using prebuilt
   binaries in their workflow (e.g., our customers).

API docs for master branch
--------------------------

To view the API docs for the `master` branch,
visit https://master-docs-flutter-io.firebaseapp.com/.

Those docs should be updated after a successful CI build
of Flutter's `master` branch.

(Looking for the API docs for our releases?
Please visit https://docs.flutter.io.)

Build infrastructure
--------------------

We build and test Flutter on:

- Travis ([details](.travis.yml))
- AppVeyor ([details](appveyor.yml))
- Chromebots (a.k.a. "recipes", [details](dev/bots/README.md))
- Devicelab (a.k.a. "cocoon", [details](dev/devicelab/README.md))