Before embarking on a change to an existing package or the creation of a new package, -it's a good idea to send mail to the mailing list +be sure to send mail to the +mailing list to let people know what you are thinking of doing. Doing so helps avoid duplication of effort and -enables discussions about design before much code +enables discussions about design before any code has been written.
diff --git a/doc/contribute.html b/doc/contribute.html index d4bf667a255..ca24973c5c9 100644 --- a/doc/contribute.html +++ b/doc/contribute.html @@ -11,6 +11,29 @@ have written and tested your code. see Contributing to gccgo.) ++The project welcomes submissions but please let everyone know what +you're working on if you want it to become part of the main repository. +
+ ++Before undertaking to write something new for the Go project, send +mail to the mailing +list to discuss what you plan to do. This gives everyone a +chance to validate the design, helps prevent duplication of effort, +and ensures that the idea fits inside the goals for the language +and tools. It also guarantees that the design is sound before code +is written; the code review tool is not the place for high-level +discussions. +
+ ++In short, send mail before you code. +And don't start the discussion by mailing a change list! +
+