Contributing to pySnowClim

We welcome contributions to pySnowClim! This document provides guidelines for contributing code, documentation, bug reports, and feature requests.

Getting Started

Types of Contributions

We welcome several types of contributions:

  • Bug Reports: Help us identify and fix issues

  • Feature Requests: Suggest new capabilities or improvements

  • Code Contributions: Implement bug fixes, new features, or optimizations

  • Documentation: Improve documentation, examples, and tutorials

  • Testing: Add test cases, validate model behavior, or benchmark performance

  • Scientific Validation: Compare against observations or other models

Prerequisites

Before contributing, please:

  1. Familiarize yourself with pySnowClim by running examples and reading documentation

  2. Check existing issues to avoid duplicate work

  3. Read this contributing guide completely

  4. Set up a development environment as described below

Development Setup

Environment Setup

  1. Fork and Clone the Repository:

# Fork on GitHub, then clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/pySnowClim.git
cd pySnowClim

  1. Create Development Environment:

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv pysnowclim-dev
source pysnowclim-dev/bin/activate  # On Windows: pysnowclim-dev\Scripts\activate

# Install in development mode with dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

  1. Verify Installation:

# Run basic tests
python -m pytest tests/

# Test basic model functionality
python run_main.py

Code Standards

Python Style:

  • Follow PEP 8 style guidelines

  • Use meaningful variable and function names

  • Include docstrings for all functions and classes

  • Maximum line length: 88 characters (Black formatter default)

Documentation Style:

  • Use Google or NumPy docstring format

  • Include parameter types and descriptions

  • Provide usage examples for complex functions

  • Update relevant documentation files

Code Organization:

  • Keep functions focused and modular

  • Maintain separation between physics calculations and I/O operations

  • Use appropriate error handling and validation

  • Add comments for complex algorithms or physics

Getting Help

If you need help contributing:

  1. Check Documentation: Review existing documentation and examples

  2. Search Issues: Look for similar problems or discussions

  3. Ask Questions: Open a GitHub issue or discussion

  4. Start Small: Begin with simple contributions to learn the workflow

Thank you for contributing to pySnowClim! Your contributions help advance snow science and support the broader research community.