Merge pull request #6848 from roc-lang/improve-contributing

Update CONTRIBUTING.md

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -2,20 +2,22 @@
 
 ## Code of Conduct
 
-We are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all. Make sure to take a look at the [Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md)!
+We are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all. See our [Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) for details.
 
 ## How to contribute
 
 All contributions are appreciated! Typo fixes, bug fixes, feature requests,
-bug reports are all helpful for the project.
+bug reports...
 
-If you are looking for a good place to start, consider reaching out on the `#contributing` channel on [Roc Zulip][roc-zulip].
-Before making your first pull request, definitely talk to an existing contributor on [Roc Zulip][roc-zulip] first about what you plan to do! This can not only avoid duplicated effort, it can also avoid making a whole PR only to discover it won't be accepted because the change doesn't fit with the goals of the language's design or implementation.
+For ideas, proposals and feature request, [click here](https://www.roc-lang.org/community#ideas), for all other contributions, read on.
+
+For a good place to start, check out [good first issues](https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22) or reach out on the `#contributing` channel on [our zulip group chat][roc-zulip].
+Before making your first pull request, talk to an existing contributor on [zulip][roc-zulip] about what you plan to do! This can avoid duplicated effort or a rejection because the change doesn't fit with the goals of the language.
 
 If you are interested in larger, implementation- or research-heavy projects
 related to Roc, check out [Roc Project Ideas][project-ideas] and reach out to us
-on Zulip! These projects may be suitable for academic theses, independent
-research, or even just valuable projects to learn from and improve Roc with.
+on [zulip][roc-zulip]! These projects may be suitable for academic theses, internships,
+independent research, or just valuable projects to learn from and improve Roc with.
 
 ## Building from Source
 
@@ -33,29 +35,35 @@ cargo clippy --workspace --tests -- --deny warnings
 
 Execute `cargo fmt --all` to fix the formatting.
 
-## Generating Docs
-
-If you make changes to [Roc's Standard Library](https://www.roc-lang.org/builtins/Str), you can add comments to the code following [the CommonMark Spec](https://spec.commonmark.org/current/) to further explain your intentions. You can view these changes locally with:
-
-```sh
-cargo run docs crates/compiler/builtins/roc/main.roc
-```
-
-This command will generate the documentation in the [`generated-docs`](generated-docs) directory.
-
 ## Contribution Tips
 
 - If you've never made a pull request on github before, [this](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-make-your-first-pull-request-on-github-3/) will be a good place to start.
-- Create an issue if the purpose of a struct/field/type/function/... is not immediately clear from its name or nearby comments.
 - You can find good first issues [here][good-first-issues]. Once you have gained some experience you can take a look at the [intermediate issues](https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22intermediate+issue%22).
-- [Fork](https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/fork) the repo so that you can apply your changes first on your own copy of the roc repo.
-- It's a good idea to open a draft pull request as you begin working on something. This way, others can see that you're working on it, which avoids duplicate effort, and others can give feedback sooner rather than later if they notice a problem in the direction things are going. Click the button "ready for review" when it's ready.
+- It's a good idea to open a draft pull request as you begin working on something. This way, others can see that you're working on it, which avoids duplicate effort, and others can give important feedback sooner rather than later. Click the button "ready for review" when it's ready.
+- The [compiler's README](https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/tree/main/crates/compiler) contains important info.
+- The AI chat in the [cursor editor](https://www.cursor.com/) can also help you find your way in the codebase.
+
+<details>
+<summary>:beetle: Debugging Tips</summary>
+
+- At the bottom of [.cargo/config.toml](https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/blob/main/.cargo/config.toml) we have useful debug flags that activate certain debug prints.
+- For Roc code; minimize the code that produces the issue.
+- For segmentation faults:
+    + In general we recommend using linux to investigate, it has better tools for this. 
+    + Use `roc build myApp.roc --linker=legacy` followed by `valgrind ./myApp`.
+    + Use gdb to step through the code, [this gdb script](https://roc.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/395097-compiler-development/topic/gdb.20script/near/424422545) can be helpful.
+    + Inspect the generated LLVM IR (`roc build myApp.roc --emit-llvm-ir`) between Roc code that encounters the segfault and code that doesn't.
+
+
+</details>
 
 ### Commit signing
 
-All your commits need to be signed [to prevent impersonation](https://dev.to/martiliones/how-i-got-linus-torvalds-in-my-contributors-on-github-3k4g). Check out [our guide for commit signing](devtools/signing.md).
+All your commits need to be signed [to prevent impersonation](https://dev.to/martiliones/how-i-got-linus-torvalds-in-my-contributors-on-github-3k4g).  
+Check out [our guide for commit signing](devtools/signing.md).
 
-#### Commit signing on NixOS
+<details>
+<summary>⚠️ Tip for NixOS users</summary>
 
 On NixOS pinentry can cause problems, the following setup works well for those with a KDE desktop. From `/etc/nixos/configuration.nix`:
 ```
@@ -65,8 +73,10 @@ programs.gnupg.agent = {
     enableSSHSupport = true;
   };
 ```
+</details>
 
-### Forgot to sign commits?
+<details>
+<summary>Forgot to sign commits?</summary>
 
 You can view your commits on github, those without the "Verified" badge still need to be signed.
 If any of those is a merge commit, follow [these steps](https://stackoverflow.com/a/9958215/4200103) instead of the ones below.
@@ -88,9 +98,11 @@ In case you have multiple commits, you can sign them in two ways:
 
 If you already pushed unsigned commits, you may have to do a force push with `git push origin -f <branch_name>`.
 
+</details>
+
 ## Can we do better?
 
-Feel free to open an issue if you think this document can be improved or is unclear in any way.
+Feel free to open an issue if you think this document can be improved!
 
 [roc-zulip]: https://roc.zulipchat.com
 [good-first-issues]: https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22

README.md

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 - [**faq**: frequently asked questions](https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/blob/main/www/content/faq.md)
 - [**group chat**](https://roc.zulipchat.com) for help, questions and discussions
 
-If you'd like to contribute, check out [good first issues](https://github.com/roc-lang/roc/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22). Don't hesitate to ask for help on our [group chat](https://roc.zulipchat.com), we're friendly!
+If you'd like to contribute, [get started here](CONTRIBUTING.md). Don't hesitate to ask for help on our [group chat](https://roc.zulipchat.com), we're friendly!
 
 ## Sponsors