FAQ: Difference between revisions

Be around. Be social. Participate in the help and maintainers' mailing lists. Find things about Octave you don't like, and start thinking about how to fix them. Many people who now contribute to Octave first spent several years helping in the mailing list before they started to delve into the code. A good way to learn Octave is to understand the problems other people are having with it, so being helpful in the mailing lists not only helps Octave as a whole, but it also prepares you to be a better Octave contributor.

If you feel ready to dive right into the code, [http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/get-involved.html here are some instructions on how to do so]. Make sure you read {{Path|etc/HACKING}} for guidance. One of the best ways for understanding how Octave works is to [[Debugging Octave|run it in a debugger]].

We also need help with this wiki and the manual. These are also important tasks. The documentation is easier to patch, so you can discuss improvements to it and submit patches. Or just edit this wiki!  

Accurate bug reporting is also very useful. Find and report bugs [http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/bugs.html], making an attempt to diagnose them. Eventually, you will also know how to fix them. If you want to help with bug reports or patches, subscribe to [https://savannah.gnu.org/mail/?group=octave the bug tracker mailing list]. You'll get updates on all bug activity, and you can jump in when you see something you can help with.

Also look at our [[Projects]] and [[Summer of Code Project Ideas]] if you need specific inspiration for coding tasks that we would like to get done.