Contributing to Scribe-Android

Thank you for your interest in contributing!

Please take a moment to review this document in order to make the contribution process easy and effective for everyone involved.

Following these guidelines helps to communicate that you respect the time of the developers managing and developing this open-source project. In return, and in accordance with this project's code of conduct, other contributors will reciprocate that respect in addressing your issue or assessing changes and features.

If you have questions or would like to communicate with the team, please join us in our public Matrix chat rooms. We'd be happy to hear from you!

Please join the public Matrix chat to connect with the community
- Matrix is a network for secure, decentralized communication
- We'd suggest that you use the Element client and Element X for a mobile app
- The General and Android channels would be great places to start!
- Feel free to introduce yourself and tell us what your interests are if you're comfortable :)
Read through this contributing guide for all the information you need to contribute
Look into issues marked good first issue and the Projects board to get a better understanding of what you can work on
Check out our public designs on Figma to understand Scribes's goals and direction
Consider joining our bi-weekly developer sync!

Note

Those new to Kotlin or wanting to work on their Kotlin skills are more than welcome to contribute! The team would be happy to help you on your development journey :)

Learning the tech stack `⇧`

Scribe is very open to contributions from people in the early stages of their coding journey! The following is a select list of documentation pages to help you understand the technologies we use.

Docs for those new to programming

Mozilla Developer Network Learning Area
- Doing MDN sections for HTML, CSS and JavaScript is the best ways to get into web development!
Open Source Guides
- Guides from GitHub about open-source software including how to start and much more!

Kotlin learning docs

Kotlin getting started guide
Kotlin documentation

Development environment `⇧`

Scribe-Android is developed using the Kotlin coding language. Those new to Kotlin or wanting to develop their skills are more than welcome to contribute! The first step on your Kotlin journey would be to read through the Kotlin documentation. The general steps to setting up a development environment are:

Download Android Studio
Fork the Scribe-Android repo, clone your fork, and configure the remotes:

Note

Consider using SSH

Alternatively to using HTTPS as in the instructions below, consider SSH to interact with GitHub from the terminal. SSH allows you to connect without a user-pass authentication flow.

To run git commands with SSH, remember then to substitute the HTTPS URL, https://github.com/..., with the SSH one, git@github.com:....

e.g. Cloning now becomes git clone git@github.com:<your-username>/Scribe-Android.git

GitHub also has their documentation on how to Generate a new SSH key 🔑

# Clone your fork of the repo into the current directory.
git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/Scribe-Android.git
# Navigate to the newly cloned directory.
cd Scribe-Android
# Assign the original repo to a remote called "upstream".
git remote add upstream https://github.com/scribe-org/Scribe-Android.git

Now, if you run git remote -v you should see two remote repositories named:
- origin (forked repository)
- upstream (Scribe-Android repository)

Open the Scribe-Android directory in Android Studio
In order to run Scribe on an emulator:
- In the top bar find and select the "Device Manager" option
- Create a device and select it once it's been made
- Press the play button marked "Run App"
- From here code edits that are made will be reflected in the app each time it is ran

Important

If you're not seeing your changes or are experiencing issues when running the app, consider clearing the Android Studio cache. This can be done via File > Invalidate Caches... in the menu. You can then select options for which caches to invalidate and then select Invalidate and Restart restart Android Studio so the changes are reflected.

Please note that you may also need to remake your emulator device from time to time. The team generally develops on emulators for the latest Pixel phones.

Note

Currently Scribe-Android does not work as a floating keyboard.

Note

Feel free to contact the team in the Android room on Matrix if you're having problems getting your environment setup!

Pre-commit Hooks `⇧`

Scribe-Android uses pre-commit hooks to maintain a clean and consistent codebase. These hooks help automatically check for issues such as formatting, trailing whitespace, and linting errors. Here's how to set up pre-commit for Scribe-Android:

Install pre-commit by running:
```
pip install pre-commit
```
After cloning the repository, install the hooks by running the following command in the project root:
```
pre-commit install
pre-commit run --all-files  # to check
```
When you make a commit, the hooks will automatically run to check for any code quality issues. If any issues are found, they will either be fixed automatically or will need to be resolved manually.

Testing `⇧`

Writing unit tests is essential to guarantee the dependability and sustainability of the Scribe-Android codebase. Unit tests confirm that individual components of the application work as intended by detecting errors at an early stage, thus making the debugging process easier and boosting assurance for upcoming modifications. An unchanging testing method helps new team members grasp project norms and anticipated actions.

In addition to the pre-commit hooks that are set up during the development environment section, Scribe-Android includes a testing suite that should be ran before all pull requests and subsequent commits.

Please run the following in the project root:

# Run ktlint and detekt:
./gradlew lintKotlin detekt
./gradlew test

If you see that there are linting errors above, then please run the following command to hopefully fix them automatically:

ktlint --format

Unit Testing Conventions for Scribe-Android

To maintain consistency and clarity in the Scribe-Android codebase, we recommend you to follow these conventions when writing unit tests. These guidelines cover the organization, naming conventions, scope, and structure for unit tests.

1. Project Structure for Unit Tests

Location: Place all unit tests in the src/test/java directory to mirror the structure of the src/main/java directory. For new classes or features, ensure their corresponding test classes follow the same package structure.
Class Files: Each class in src/main/java should have a dedicated test file in src/test/java, named by appending Test to the class name (e.g., UserManager → UserManagerTest).
New Classes for Testing: When a new utility or helper class is needed specifically for testing, place it under src/test/java/utils or src/test/java/helpers.

2. Naming Conventions for Tests

Test Methods: Use descriptive names indicating expected behavior. Follow the format:
```
@Test
public void methodName_StateUnderTest_ExpectedBehavior() {
    // Test code here.
}
```
Example: saveUser_WithValidData_SavesUserCorrectly().

3. Scope and Focus of Tests

Single Responsibility: Each test should cover only one behavior or scenario. For multiple behaviors, split them into separate test methods.

Setup and Teardown: Use @Before for initializing objects and @After for cleanup, ensuring tests run in isolation.

@Before
public void setUp() {
    // Initialize objects.
}

@After
public void tearDown() {
    // Cleanup objects.
}

Mocking: Use mocks (e.g., MockK) to isolate the unit test, especially with dependencies like databases, network requests or services.

4. Writing Effective Tests

AAA Pattern (Arrange, Act, Assert): Structure each test with three distinct parts:
- Arrange: Set up the conditions.
- Act: Execute the method under test.
- Assert: Verify the result.
Coverage of Edge Cases: Write tests for both typical cases and edge cases, like null values or invalid data.

5. Test Documentation

Comments: Add comments when test logic is complex or non-intuitive.
Assertions: Use descriptive assertion methods (assertTrue, assertEquals, etc.) for clarity and include failure messages for custom assertions if necessary.

Issues and projects `⇧`

The issue tracker for Scribe-Android is the preferred channel for bug reports, features requests and submitting pull requests. Scribe also organizes related issues into projects.

Note

Just because an issue is assigned on GitHub doesn't mean the team isn't open to your contribution! Feel free to write in the issues and we can potentially reassign it to you.

Be sure to check the -next release- and -priority- labels in the issues for those that are most important, as well as those marked good first issue that are tailored for first-time contributors.

Bug reports `⇧`

A bug is a demonstrable problem that is caused by the code in the repository. Good bug reports are extremely helpful - thank you!

Guidelines for bug reports:

Use the GitHub issue search to check if the issue has already been reported.
Check if the issue has been fixed by trying to reproduce it using the latest main or development branch in the repository.
Isolate the problem to make sure that the code in the repository is definitely responsible for the issue.

Great Bug Reports tend to have:

A quick summary
Steps to reproduce
What you expected would happen
What actually happens
Notes (why this might be happening, things tried that didn't work, etc)

To make the above steps easier, the Scribe team asks that contributors report bugs using the bug report template, with these issues further being marked with the Bug type.

Again, thank you for your time in reporting issues!

Feature requests `⇧`

Feature requests are more than welcome! Please take a moment to find out whether your idea fits with the scope and aims of the project. When making a suggestion, provide as much detail and context as possible, and further make clear the degree to which you would like to contribute in its development. Feature requests are marked with the Feature type, and can be made using the feature request template.

Pull requests `⇧`

Good pull requests - patches, improvements and new features - are the foundation of our community making Scribe-Android. They should remain focused in scope and avoid containing unrelated commits. Note that all contributions to this project will be made under the specified license and should follow the coding indentation and style standards (contact us if unsure).

Please ask first before embarking on any significant pull request (implementing features, refactoring code, etc), otherwise you risk spending a lot of time working on something that the developers might not want to merge into the project. With that being said, major additions are very appreciated!

When making a contribution, adhering to the GitHub flow process is the best way to get your work merged:

If you cloned a while ago, get the latest changes from upstream:
```
git checkout <dev-branch>
git pull upstream <dev-branch>
```
Create a new topic branch (off the main project development branch) to contain your feature, change, or fix:
```
git checkout -b <topic-branch-name>
```
Commit your changes in logical chunks, and please try to adhere to Conventional Commits.

Note

The following are tools and methods to help you write good commit messages ✨

commitlint helps write Conventional Commits
Git's interactive rebase cleans up commits

Locally merge (or rebase) the upstream development branch into your topic branch:
```
git pull --rebase upstream <dev-branch>
```
Push your topic branch up to your fork:
```
git push origin <topic-branch-name>
```
Open a Pull Request with a clear title and description.

Thank you in advance for your contributions!

Data edits `⇧`

Note

Please see the Wikidata and Scribe Guide for an overview of Wikidata and how Scribe uses it.

Scribe does not accept direct edits to the grammar files as they are sourced from Wikidata. Edits can be discussed and the Scribe-Data queries will be changed. If there is a problem with one of the files, then the fix should be made on Wikidata and not on Scribe. Feel free to let us know that edits have been made by opening a data issue or contacting us in the issues for Scribe-Data and we'll be happy to integrate them!

Localization `⇧`

Being an app that focusses on language learning, localization plays a big part in what Scribe will eventually be. Those interested are more than welcome to join the team at scribe-org/Scribe-i18n where we work on localizing all Scribe applications via Weblate.

Please run the update_i18n_keys.sh script to load in the most recent version of the Scribe-i18n app texts into Scribe-Android.

Progress

Documentation `⇧`

Documentation is an invaluable way to contribute to coding projects as it allows others to more easily understand the project structure and contribute. Issues related to documentation are marked with the documentation label.

Design `⇧`

Designs for Scribe are done in the public design file in Figma. Those interested in helping with Scribe's design are also welcome to share their ideas using the design improvement template that makes an issue marked with the design label.

All branding elements such as logos, icons, colors and fonts should follow those that are set out in scribe-org/Organization. As the project is fully open source, these elements are also open for discussion. Efforts in making Scribe products professional with a distinct and cohesive identity are much appreciated!

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