Contributing

Thanks for contributing 🙂‍↕️

Coding style

Please format your code with clang-format before committing (the project ships a .clang-format file).

Also, please roughly adapt to the coding style of the project. Short overview (you may as well inspect the code):

namespace terra::grid::shell {      // mimic directory structure - use this for a file in src/terra/grid/shell/ 
 
// snake_case for functions, argument, and variables
 
float some_function( float some_arg )
{
    float some_var = 1.0f;
    return some_arg + some_var;
}
 
// CamelCase for classes
 
class SomeClass
{
  public:
    void some_method() { /* ... */ } // snake_case for methods.
 
  private:
    int some_private_member_; // underscore at the end for (private) member variables
};
 
struct SomeDataStruct
{
    int some_struct_member; // if public and simply in a container - no underscore at the end
};
 
}

Pull requests

‍TL;DR: We are employing a simple fork workflow on the main branch.

Here's a short guide on how to get started.

Some tips:

• Don’t worry about mistakes. We can help fix them.
• Small pull requests are easier to review than large ones.
• You can draft a PR early to get feedback.

If unsure, follow the steps below. For more details, you can, for instance, check out the Atlassian guide for more details.

1. Fork the repository

At the top right of the GitHub page click:

Fork → Create fork

This makes your own copy of the project.

2. Clone your fork

Open a terminal:

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/terraneo.git
cd terraneo

3. Set the original repo as “upstream” (one-time setup)

This lets you pull updates from the main project:

git remote add upstream https://github.com/mantleconvection/terraneo.git

You only do this once.

4. Always start from the latest main branch

Before creating new work:

git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git pull upstream main

5. Create a new branch for your change

Never work directly on main.

git checkout -b feature/my-change

Pick any name that describes your change (e.g., bugfix/mpi-deadlock, feature/some-forcing-term, docs/improving-fem-documentation).

6. Make your changes

Make the edits you want.

Note

Please adhere to the coding style of the project and format with clang-format (the project ships a .clang-format file).

Then save your work:

git add .
git commit -m "Describe your change."

Keep commit messages simple and clear and so that others can directly see what you have changed.

7. Update your branch before pushing (important!)

Make sure your branch has the latest updates from the project:

git fetch upstream
git pull upstream main

If it asks about conflicts, fix them if you can. If you’re unsure, ask a maintainer. We’re happy to help.

8. Push your branch to your fork

git push origin feature/my-change

9. Open a Pull Request (PR)

Go to your fork on GitHub. GitHub will show a “Compare & pull request” button.

Make sure the PR target is:

base: main   ←   compare: feature/my-change

In your PR description:

• explain what you changed
• mention related issues (if any)

That’s it!

A maintainer will review the PR and merge it into main.