.. include:: ../common_links.inc

.. _development_where_to_start:
.. _developers_guide:

Developers Guide
----------------

Iris_ is an Open Source project hosted on Github and as such anyone with a
GitHub account may create an `issue`_ on our `Iris GitHub`_ project page for
raising:

* bug reports
* feature requests
* documentation improvements

The `Iris GitHub`_ project has been configured to use templates for each of
the above issue types when creating a `new issue`_ to ensure the appropriate
information is provided.

Alternatively, **join the conversation** in Iris `GitHub Discussions`_, when
you would like the opinions of the Iris community.

A `pull request`_ may also be created by anyone who has become a
|contributor|_ to Iris_.  Permissions to merge pull requests to the
``main`` branch are only given to |core developers|_ of Iris_, this is
to ensure a measure of control. All authors on a pull request will
automatically be asked to sign the
`SciTools Contributor's License Agreement (CLA)`_, if they have not already
done so.

To get started we suggest reading recent `issues`_, `GitHub Discussions`_ and
`pull requests`_ for Iris.

If you are new to using GitHub we recommend reading the
`GitHub getting started`_

.. _GitHub getting started: https://docs.github.com/en/github/getting-started-with-github
.. |contributor| replace:: **contributor**
.. |core developers| replace:: **core developers**


.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1
   :caption: Developers Guide
   :name: development_index
   :hidden:

   gitwash/index
   contributing_documentation
   contributing_codebase_index
   contributing_changes
   github_app
   release


.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1
   :caption: Reference
   :hidden:

   ../generated/api/iris
   ../whatsnew/index
   ../copyright
   ../voted_issues