Development Process

Overall Steps

The developer for Apache Helix should use following steps for project based development:

• Write a Wiki to describe your proposal for the project.
• Send the proposal to dev@helix.apache.org for reviewing
• Addressing all the comments and concerns.
• Get AT LEAST ONE approval from Apache Helix PMCs.
• Create your project branch and start the implementation.
• Make sure all tests passed before merging to the main branch.

Proposal Guidance

Before the implementation, a project proposal must required for following items documented:

• Problem Statement
• Proposed Solutions
  • Architecture / Structure Change
  • Potential Impact
  • Behavior Change
• Alternative Solutions
• Roll Out Guidance for Users

For all the list components must be covered in the proposal documentation. This proposal must be submitted in the github wiki under Document Ready for Review and mark title prefix with different statuses:

• [Draft]: document is working in progress
• [In Review]: document is ready to be reviewed and people are reviewing it.
• [Done]: document is reviewed and signed off by Apache Helix PMC members.

Definition of Project

To define a project, you need to understand the complexity of the feature you implement, improve or fixing bugs. Here're the minimum requirements for a project based development. Any one of the item qualified, you must start a project based development:

• The work need to be done is a new feature that either :
  • May cause multiple modules touched .
  • Over 200 lines code change need to be break down into small PRs.
  • New modules to be added.
• The work need to be done is improvement / bug fixing either:
  • Over 200 lines code change.
  • Impact user behavior
  • Impact Helix client components, such as HelixManager, Participant, Spectator and so on.
  • Backward incompatible.
  • Require major refactoring code structure.

Feelfree to add more items and give suggestions to dev mailing list.