Note:

If you want to create a new page for developers, you should create it on the Moodle Developer Resource site.

Overview: Difference between revisions

From MoodleDocs
m (typo fixes)
m (Protected "Overview": Developer Docs Migration ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)))
 
(47 intermediate revisions by 18 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
A lot of people ask how the development of Moodle operates. This page should give you a working overview that should help in understanding a lot of other developer documentation.
{{Template:Migrated|newDocId=/general/community}}
 
A lot of people ask how the development of Moodle operates. This page should give you a working overview that should help in understanding a lot of other developer documentation.
(This page is under early construction, your help in linking to other pages from here would be welcome!)


==The key players==
==The key players==


;Martin Dougiamas: Martin is the lead developer of Moodle. Generally he tries to facilitate democracy and meritocracy but occasionally has to make executive decisions on things.
;Martin Dougiamas: Martin is the founder lead developer of Moodle. Generally he tries to facilitate democracy and meritocracy but occasionally has to make executive decisions on things.


;Moodle HQ: The mostly-Australian team of developers who are directly funded by the Moodle project to work full-time on core developments.  Developers include Martin Dougiamas (moodler), Yu Zhang (lazyfish), Petr Skoda (skodak), Nicolas Connault, Helen Foster (wildgirl) and occasionally Eloy Lafuente (stronk7), Jamie Pratt (jamiesensei).
;[https://moodle.com/careers/ Moodle HQ]: The team of more than 20 developers who are directly funded by the Moodle project to work full-time on core developments.


;Catalyst: The team of developers working for Moodle clients via Catalyst Ltd in New Zealand, resulting in a lot of core development.  Developers include Martin Langhoff, Penny Leach (mjollnir), Matt Clarkson, and Donal McMullan.
;Moodle Partners: Over 50 companies around the world that provide Moodle services. These companies often have their own developers and may contribute to Moodle directly by working on core code or by creating plugins.


;Open University: The team of developers working on Moodle implementations at Open University in the UK.  Developers include Tim Hunt, Sam Marshall, Nick Freear, Thanh Le and Jenny Gray.
;Component leads: A number of people around the world have volunteered to lead various components in Moodle. This involves maintaining existing code as well as listening to the community and improving that component with new features.


There are many other people contributing to Moodle in many ways, these are just the main groups currently working on core development.
There are many other people contributing to Moodle in many ways. For a full list see the [http://moodle.org/local/dev/ Moodle developers] page on moodle.org.


==Moodle versions==
==How we develop the Roadmap==


Moodle major releases occur roughly 6 months or more apart, on no fixed schedule.  Each major release increments the version number by 0.1.  Minor releases (no new features, just fixes) on each stable branch can occur at any time, whenever enough bug fixes have been made to justify them. The full details can be seen in the [[Release notes]].
The [[Roadmap]] lists the new features being developed for the next major version. This list is derived mostly from the issues with large numbers of votes in the Moodle [[Tracker]], so please vote for what you want!  Other influences include general discussion, surveys and feature requests at Moodle Moots and in the Moodle forums.


The current development version is always on the trunk of CVS (i.e. HEAD), while stable branches are split off for every major version (e.g. MOODLE_18_STABLE).
Component leads decide on features in individual components so make your case to them!


==Moodle versions==


==Release cycles==
Moodle major releases (with big new features) are on a regular 6 month cycle, in  May and November, since Moodle 2.6. Each major release increments the version number by 0.1 (eg 3.4 -> 3.5 -> 3.6)) and starts a new branch of minor releases.


Generally a cycle works like this:
Minor releases (with bug fixes only) are on a 2 month cycle, unless a security emergency occurs. They will increment the major release by 0.0.1 (eg 3.5 -> 3.5.1 -> 3.5.2).  
;Rapid Development:Long period of several months adding code to the HEAD version of Moodle.  At the same time, all fixes that don't involve database changes or radical core changes are backported to the last two or three stable branches.
;Head Freeze:At some point Martin Dougiamas declares a freeze on new work for a while to stabilise the core.  All database changes and all major core changes need to have explicit permission from Martin. All developers should be wrapping up work on new features and fixing bugs in new code. This period may be 1 or 2 weeks.
;Beta period:Once the HEAD version becomes fairly stable, Martin declares a BETA version and this point is marked on HEAD as MOODLE_XX_BETA (e.g. MOODLE_19_BETA). Install packages are generated daily from the latest version for wider testing and feedback via the tracker. The freeze continues, testing and bug fixing continues. This testing period may be anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks.
;Major release:When the core code passes all the testing we can throw at it, the MOODLE_XX_BETA flag is moved up to mark the current point as a branch point, and a new stable branch named MOODLE_XX_STABLE is created.  Packages are created, and the release is announced.


Then it all starts again!
The full details of these can be seen in the [[Releases]].


==Quality control==
==Support lifetime==


==Coding Standards==
Moodle HQ is committed to supporting major releases for 12 months of general fixes (usually 6 point releases) and 18 months (an additional 6 months) of security fixes.


The full [[Coding|Coding Guide]] gives all the details, but here are some of the major things  your code needs to hit:
That means we usually release minor versions for the last three major branches.


===XMLDB===
Some versions, every two years, are [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_support long term supported (LTS)] for a total of 36 months, with 18 additional months of security fixes compared to other versions.


All our database schema are created using the XML ''install.php'' files, and upgraded using database-agnostic commands in ''upgrade.php'' files.  Any version of any part of Moodle can be smoothly upgraded to any later version in this fashion (on a wide variety of supported databases).
==Issue tracking==


===XHTML===
Issue tracking is an important part of a continuous quality control process. It involves reporting of problems (bugs), ideas for improvement and new features. Unlike most proprietary software programs, Moodle issue reporting and tracking information is open to everyone. Moodle's issue tracking system is called the [http://tracker.moodle.org/ Tracker].


All output from Moodle must be compliant with XHTML Strict 1.0, and also compliant with all common accessibility guidelines (such as W3C WAG).
All Moodle users are encouraged to be active participants when it comes to testing. Anyone with a Tracker user account can create, view, comment on, vote, and watch bugs.


===Forms===
==Processes==


All forms should use the Moodleforms library if possible.  This results in a standardised accessible output that designers can style consistently and well.
As you might guess, a large software project like Moodle with hundreds of contributors and varied opinions can be difficult to manage.


===Parameters===
Over time we have developed a number of well-defined processes for getting code in and out of Moodle and for governing everyone's workflow in a way that is fair and clear.


All parameters should be checked using require_param() and optional_param() which will safely clean all incoming data for use and provide defaults to your code.  Moodleforms will do this automatically for you.
See our [[Process]] document for full information on our development processes, including how you can contribute to the project.


===Output===
==Coding Standards==
 
All textual output should be output using the format_text or format_string functions.  This will ensure that text is cleaned and filtered appropriately.
 
===Access===
 
All permissions-checking should use the "Access library" to check against current capabilities.  The most common function you'll use is has_capability() which checks the permissions of the current user in an efficient way to see if they are allowed to do this specific operation.  Do not check for specific roles in your code (e.g. teacher/student) as that will make your code useless.
 
===Other core libraries===
 
The other major libraries you should get familiar with are:
# ''moodlelib.php'' - a useful bin of all kinds of useful functions and constants
# ''datalib.php'' - all the functions you need to interface with the database
# ''weblib.php'' - all the functions you'll need to create and output XHTML
 
 
===Plugins===
 
Moodle has about 22 different types of plugins last time I counted.  Plugins can generally be self-contained in a single directory containing scripts, images, stylesheets and language files all in one package that can be dropped into the Moodle script directory in the right place.  After that the admin just needs to visit the admin page to install them.
 
Most plugins work in one of two ways, they either provide a ''lib.php'' filled with common functions and some scripts with standard names, or they subclass a proto-plugin and override a few method functions to achieve their goals. 
 
The best way to learn is to pick an example from the core code that is similar to what you want to do and start playing with it.  There are also some template plugins to help get you started.
 
==Development processes==
Not all Moodle development happens exactly like this, but it really should. :-)
 
===Major Development===
A major development is a significant piece of new code, adding new functionality to Moodle.
 
====Make sure it's a good idea====
Firstly, you should look at the roadmap and talk the idea over with some Moodle developers to see if someone else is working on it already and whether others think the general idea has merit.  Use the forums if you wish, or whatever means you have.  If you have a client, you may need to work with them to work out what they REALLY want (perhaps it isn't actually a new development for Moodle).
 
====Create a specification in Moodle Docs====
Start a new page in the Moodle Docs wiki, similar to [[Grades]].  Your page should outline the database table design, the GUI, the hows and whys etc.  Include as much detail as you need (even mock screenshots) but try to keep it clear and logically organised.
 
====Seek and absorb community feedback====
Post about the new page in the appropriate forums on [http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=5 Using Moodle] to help draw attention to it and to stimulate some discussion around your development.  The more feedback you have the better, especially if it includes a wide variety of users (developers, teachers, students etc).
 
Edit your page in response to the feedback, or invite people to do so themselves.  try to evolve the specification into something that all users are happy with.  Sometimes it's worth working harder to find the "best" way to do something without adding Yet Another Option.


====Set up tasks in the Moodle Tracker====
Over time we have distilled our best practice in writing code down into our [[Coding|Coding Guide]]These rules cover the formatting and layout of all our code to make it consistent across the code base. If you plan to write Moodle code, you need to read it thoroughly.  
Once the specification has settled down, it's time to start workCreate a new task for yourself in the Moodle Tracker, and add sub-tasks in roughly chronological order for all the different parts of the job.   This not only helps you keep track of where you are, but allows the community to "watch you" develop and to help you where they can.  If there are different people working on different parts, you can assign subtasks to different people.  It's really very convenient to use once you get the hang of it.


====Use CVS and link commits to Tracker====
==Plugins and APIs==
If possible, develop the code in an open code repository (and preferably Moodle CVS!).  If you need CVS write access to the core code or the contrib repository, contact support@moodle.com with details.  Gaining access to the main core code is quite difficult, but we are generally very free with access to the contrib area.


Every time you make a commit, include a detailed message about the new code and always include a Moodle Tracker bug number (e.g. MDL-7777). This will ensure that the Moodle Tracker is able to detect your commit and attach it to the relevant bug report.
Although Moodle is open source and you can change anything you want, the best and most maintainable way to extend Moodle is to write a plugin (sometimes called a module). Plugins are a directory of code that can be simply "dropped" in into any Moodle installation and it will be detected, installed and automatically made available as a tool within the Moodle interface.  


====Comment on milestones in forums and tracker====
See our [[Plugins|Plugin documentation]] for full details of the various types of plugin available.
If you hit a major milestone, or want testers to try something, feel free to post about it in the relevant forum on Using Moodle.  The more people you can attract to look and try out your code the better it will be, trust me.


====Respond to bug reports====
==See also==
Of course you need to listen to your users (well, most of them :-)).  Encourage people to file bugs, and fix them.  If you need help setting up a project category in the tracker contact support@moodle.com.  This will ensure that all your bugs are easy to find and to track.


===Minor Development===
* [[Finding your way into the Moodle code]]
====Create a new issue in the tracker====
* [[Working with the Community]]
====Attach a patch====
* [[Plugin contribution]]
====Promote the patch====
* [http://www.slideshare.net/poltawski/how-to-guarantee-your-change-is-integrated-to-moodle-core How to guarantee your change is integrated to Moodle core] presentation by Dan Poltawski


==How can you become a Moodle developer?==
[[Category:Quality Assurance|Overview]]
[[Category:Processes|Overview]]

Latest revision as of 07:27, 6 May 2022

Important:

This content of this page has been updated and migrated to the new Moodle Developer Resources. The information contained on the page should no longer be seen up-to-date.

Why not view this page on the new site and help us to migrate more content to the new site!

A lot of people ask how the development of Moodle operates. This page should give you a working overview that should help in understanding a lot of other developer documentation.

The key players

Martin Dougiamas
Martin is the founder lead developer of Moodle. Generally he tries to facilitate democracy and meritocracy but occasionally has to make executive decisions on things.
Moodle HQ
The team of more than 20 developers who are directly funded by the Moodle project to work full-time on core developments.
Moodle Partners
Over 50 companies around the world that provide Moodle services. These companies often have their own developers and may contribute to Moodle directly by working on core code or by creating plugins.
Component leads
A number of people around the world have volunteered to lead various components in Moodle. This involves maintaining existing code as well as listening to the community and improving that component with new features.

There are many other people contributing to Moodle in many ways. For a full list see the Moodle developers page on moodle.org.

How we develop the Roadmap

The Roadmap lists the new features being developed for the next major version. This list is derived mostly from the issues with large numbers of votes in the Moodle Tracker, so please vote for what you want! Other influences include general discussion, surveys and feature requests at Moodle Moots and in the Moodle forums.

Component leads decide on features in individual components so make your case to them!

Moodle versions

Moodle major releases (with big new features) are on a regular 6 month cycle, in May and November, since Moodle 2.6. Each major release increments the version number by 0.1 (eg 3.4 -> 3.5 -> 3.6)) and starts a new branch of minor releases.

Minor releases (with bug fixes only) are on a 2 month cycle, unless a security emergency occurs. They will increment the major release by 0.0.1 (eg 3.5 -> 3.5.1 -> 3.5.2).

The full details of these can be seen in the Releases.

Support lifetime

Moodle HQ is committed to supporting major releases for 12 months of general fixes (usually 6 point releases) and 18 months (an additional 6 months) of security fixes.

That means we usually release minor versions for the last three major branches.

Some versions, every two years, are long term supported (LTS) for a total of 36 months, with 18 additional months of security fixes compared to other versions.

Issue tracking

Issue tracking is an important part of a continuous quality control process. It involves reporting of problems (bugs), ideas for improvement and new features. Unlike most proprietary software programs, Moodle issue reporting and tracking information is open to everyone. Moodle's issue tracking system is called the Tracker.

All Moodle users are encouraged to be active participants when it comes to testing. Anyone with a Tracker user account can create, view, comment on, vote, and watch bugs.

Processes

As you might guess, a large software project like Moodle with hundreds of contributors and varied opinions can be difficult to manage.

Over time we have developed a number of well-defined processes for getting code in and out of Moodle and for governing everyone's workflow in a way that is fair and clear.

See our Process document for full information on our development processes, including how you can contribute to the project.

Coding Standards

Over time we have distilled our best practice in writing code down into our Coding Guide. These rules cover the formatting and layout of all our code to make it consistent across the code base. If you plan to write Moodle code, you need to read it thoroughly.

Plugins and APIs

Although Moodle is open source and you can change anything you want, the best and most maintainable way to extend Moodle is to write a plugin (sometimes called a module). Plugins are a directory of code that can be simply "dropped" in into any Moodle installation and it will be detected, installed and automatically made available as a tool within the Moodle interface.

See our Plugin documentation for full details of the various types of plugin available.

See also