Information for developers 
==========================

OpenPTV need developers. Your support, code and contribution is very welcome and 
we are grateful you can provide some. Please send us an email to **openptv@googlegroups.com**
to get started, or for any kind of information.

We use `Git <http://git-scm.com/>`_ for development version control, and we have our main repository on `Github <https://github.com/>`_.


Development workflow
--------------------

This is absolutely not a comprehensive guide of git development, and it is only an indication of our workflow.

1. Download and install ```git```. Instruction can be found `here <https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git>`_.
2. Set up a github account.
3. Clone OpenPTV repositories using::

	git clone http://github.com/openptv/openptv.git
    
4. create a branch `new_feature` either in ``liboptv`` where you implement your new feature.
5. Fix, change, implement, document code, ...
6. From time to time fetch and merge your master branch with that of the main repository.
7. Be sure that everything is ok and works in your branch.
8. Merge your master branch with your `new_feature` branch.
9. Be sure that everything is now ok and works in you master branch.
10. Send a `pull request <http://help.github.com/pull-requests/>`_.
11. Create another branch for a new feature.

Programming languages
-------------------------

As a general rule, we use ANSI C for the ``liboptv`` library and Python for the interface. 
You are welcome to use Python for the core algorithms as well if it does not make any 
difference with code speed. In those situations where Python speed is the bottleneck, 
we have some possibilities, depending on your skills and background. If something has 
to be written from scratch use the first language from the following which you are 
confortable with: ``Cython``, ``C``, ``C++``, ``Fortran``. If you have existing, debugged, tested code that
you would like to share, then no problem. We accept it, whichever language may be written in!


Things OpenPTV currently needs, (in order of importance)
--------------------------------------------------------
#. Move all the core algorithms into ``liboptv``, clean and tested
#. Documentation
#. Cython wrappers for ``C`` algorithms, see ``pybind`` directory. 
#. Flow field filtering and validation functions, see ``post-ptv`` repository
#. Better graphical user interface design, e.g. Qt, QML, ...