Table of contents

Contributing code

We use the version control system git and the repository is available on github:

https://github.com/OpenANN/OpenANN

Contributing code to OpenANN usually works as follows:

Fork the repository (you need a github account).
Clone the repository:
git clone git@github.com:<YourAccount>/OpenANN.git
Create a new branch to add new features / fixes / documentation etc.:
git checkout -b <BranchName>
Work on the new branch, commit and finally push your changes to your fork:
git push origin <BranchName>
Open a pull request to the main repository. A core developer will review and possibly merge your request.

Directories

OpenANN - Header files that are exposed to the user
benchmarks - Standard ANN benchmarks
cmake - CMake macros
doc - Additional doxygen documentation files
examples - OpenANN showcase
lib - External libraries
python - Python language bindings
src - Implementation files for libopenann
test - Contains the OpenANN test suite

Improving the code quality

There is always a lot of work that can be done to improve the quality of code, e.g.:

Writing unit tests: check out the test directory to see how it works
Writing documentation: more API documentation, guides, how-tos, ...
Checking for memory leaks, access of unallocated memory, etc. with Valgrind
Adding more checks and asserts (note that these checks must not affect the performance of the code)
Profiling and optimizing code for performance

Those tasks are great entry points to contribute to the library and we are glad to receive any improvements.

Coding Style

We have a coding style. To apply that style automatically, you can use the tool Artistic Style. You can run the following command in the OpenANN main directory:

astyle --options=.astylerc --recursive "OpenANN/*.h" "src/*.cpp" "examples/*.h" "examples/*.cpp" "benchmarks/*.h" "benchmarks/*.cpp" "test/*.h" "test/*.cpp"

Test Suite

To build the OpenANN test suite you have to build the target TestSuite:

make TestSuite

You can run the tests with

test/TestSuite

or

test/TestSuite -qt

The latter will only work if Qt and the Qt headers are installed. Usually all tests should be succesful.

FAQ

What can I do to contribute to OpenANN?

There is a list of open issues at our github page: issues.

How can I verify my contribution?

Write unit tests.
Use Cppcheck:
```
cppcheck -q --enable=all <files> 
```
.
Maybe add an example or a benchmark for major components like a new type of learner.
Use valgrind to check for memory leaks etc.

How can I minimize the time that is required to switch between different build types (Debug and Release)?

Both build types can be maintained simultanously:

mkdir build/Debug
mkdir build/Release
cd build/Debug
cmake -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:String=Debug ../..
make
cd ../Release
cmake -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:String=Release ../..
make