Table of Contents

Contributing to the Dassie Compiler

Thank you for your interest in contributing to the Dassie compiler! This section contains all the information you need to get started.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • .NET 10 SDK or later
  • Git
  • A code editor (Visual Studio, VS Code, Rider, etc.)

Setting Up the Development Environment

  1. Clone the repository:

    git clone https://github.com/loschsoftware/dc.git
cd dc

  2. Build the solution:

    dotnet build

  3. Run tests:

    dotnet test

Project Structure

The solution consists of several projects:

Project Description
Dassie The main compiler executable
Dassie.Core Standard library and runtime types
Dassie.Text Editor integration APIs
Dassie.Configuration Project file handling and configuration
Dassie.Compiler Compiler API for .NET applications

How to Contribute

Reporting Issues

  • Check if the issue already exists in the issue tracker
  • Include a minimal reproduction case
  • Provide version information (dc --version)
  • Describe expected vs. actual behavior

Submitting Pull Requests

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
  3. Make your changes following the code style guidelines
  4. Ensure all tests pass
  5. Commit with clear, descriptive messages
  6. Push to your fork and create a pull request

Code Review Process

All contributions go through code review. Reviewers will check:

  • Adherence to code style guidelines
  • Test coverage
  • Documentation updates
  • Backward compatibility

Documentation

Guidelines

  • Keep documentation up to date with code changes
  • Use clear, concise language
  • Include code examples where helpful
  • Follow the existing documentation style

Building Documentation

The documentation uses DocFX. To build locally:

cd docs
docfx build

To preview:

docfx serve _site

Areas for Contribution

Good First Issues

Look for issues labeled good first issue in the issue tracker. These are suitable for newcomers to the project.

Documentation

  • Improving existing documentation
  • Adding examples
  • Fixing typos and clarifications

Compiler Features

  • Bug fixes
  • Performance improvements
  • New language features (coordinate with maintainers first)

Tooling

  • IDE integrations
  • Build system improvements
  • Compiler extensions

Resources

Questions?

If you have questions about contributing, feel free to:

  • Open a discussion on GitHub
  • Ask in an issue (label it as a question)

Thank you for contributing to the Dassie compiler!

Edit this page