# Contributing Guidelines

The following is a set of guidelines for contributing to the NGINX Ingress Controller. We really appreciate that you are considering contributing!

#### Table Of Contents

[Ask a Question](#ask-a-question)

[Getting Started](#getting-started)

[Contributing](#contributing)

[Style Guides](#style-guides)
  * [Git Style Guide](#git-style-guide)
  * [Go Style Guide](#go-style-guide)

[Code of Conduct](https://github.com/nginxinc/kubernetes-ingress/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md)

## Ask a Question

We will have a public forum soon where you can come and ask questions and have a discussion. For now please open an Issue on GitHub with the label `question`.


## Getting Started

Follow our [Installation Guide](https://github.com/nginxinc/kubernetes-ingress/blob/master/docs/installation.md) to get the NGINX Ingress Controller up and running.

Read the [documentation](https://github.com/nginxinc/kubernetes-ingress/tree/master/docs) and [configuration](https://github.com/nginxinc/kubernetes-ingress/tree/master/examples) examples

### Project Structure

* This Ingress Controller is written in Go and supports both the open source NGINX software and NGINX Plus.
* The project follows a standard Go project layout
    * The main code is found at `cmd/nginx-ingress/`
    * The internal code is found at `internal/`
    * Build files for Docker and CI are found under `build/`
    * Deployment yaml files, and Helm files are found at `deployments/`
    * The project dependencies are found at `vendor/`. We use [Go Modules](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Modules) for managing dependencies.

## Contributing

### Report a Bug

To report a bug, open an issue on GitHub with the label `bug` using the available bug report issue template. Please ensure the issue has not already been reported.

### Suggest an Enhancement

To suggest an enhancement, please create an issue on GitHub with the label `enhancement` using the available feature issue template.

### Open a Pull Request

* Fork the repo, create a branch, submit a PR when your changes are tested and ready for review
* Fill in [our pull request template](https://github.com/nginxinc/kubernetes-ingress/blob/master/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md)

Note: if you’d like to implement a new feature, please consider creating a feature request issue first to start a discussion about the feature.

## Style Guides

### Git Style Guide

* Keep a clean, concise and meaningful git commit history on your branch, rebasing locally and squashing before submitting a PR
* Follow the guidelines of writing a good commit message as described here https://chris.beams.io/posts/git-commit/ and summarised in the next few points
    * In the subject line, use the present tense ("Add feature" not "Added feature")
    * In the subject line, use the imperative mood ("Move cursor to..." not "Moves cursor to...")
    * Limit the subject line to 72 characters or less
    * Reference issues and pull requests liberally after the subject line
    * Add more detailed description in the body of the git message (`git commit -a` to give you more space and time in your text editor to write a good message instead of `git commit -am`)

### Go Style Guide

* Run `gofmt` over your code to automatically resolve a lot of style issues. Most editors support this running automatically when saving a code file.
* Run `go lint` and `go vet` on your code too to catch any other issues.
* Follow this guide on some good practice and idioms for Go -  https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/CodeReviewComments
* To check for extra issues, install [golangci-lint](https://github.com/golangci/golangci-lint) and run `make lint` or `golangci-lint run`