1# Contributing to PHP 2 3Anybody who programs in PHP can be a contributing member of the community that 4develops and deploys it; the task of deploying PHP, documentation and associated 5websites is a never ending one. With every release, or release candidate comes a 6wave of work, which takes a lot of organization and co-ordination. 7 8You don't need any special access to download, build, debug and begin submitting 9PHP or PECL code, tests or documentation. Once you've followed this guide and 10had several contributions accepted, commit privileges are often quickly granted. 11 12## Index 13 14* [Pull requests](#pull-requests) 15* [Filing bugs](#filing-bugs) 16* [Feature requests](#feature-requests) 17* [Writing tests](#writing-tests) 18* [Writing documentation](#writing-documentation) 19* [Getting help](#getting-help) 20* [PHP source code directory structure](#php-source-code-directory-structure) 21* [PHP internals](#php-internals) 22* [PECL extensions](#pecl-extensions) 23* [Checklist for submitting contribution](#checklist-for-submitting-contribution) 24* [What happens after submitting contribution?](#what-happens-after-submitting-contribution) 25* [What happens when your contribution is applied?](#what-happens-when-your-contribution-is-applied) 26* [Git commit rules](#git-commit-rules) 27* [Copyright and license headers](#copyright-and-license-headers) 28 29## Pull requests 30 31PHP welcomes pull requests to [add tests](#writing-tests), fix bugs and to 32implement RFCs. Please be sure to include tests as appropriate! 33 34If you are fixing a bug, then please submit your PR against the lowest actively 35supported branch of PHP that the bug affects (only green branches on 36[the supported version page](https://www.php.net/supported-versions.php) are 37supported). For example, at the time of writing, the lowest supported version is 38PHP 7.3, which corresponds to the `PHP-7.3` branch in Git. Please also make sure 39you add a link to the PR in the bug on [the bug tracker](https://bugs.php.net/). 40 41Pull requests implementing RFCs should be submitted against `master`. 42 43Pull requests should *never* be submitted against `PHP-x.y.z` branches, as these 44are only used for release management. 45 46If your pull request exhibits conflicts with the base branch, please resolve 47them by using `git rebase` instead of `git merge`. 48 49Fork the official PHP repository and send a pull request. A notification will be 50sent to the pull request mailing list. Sending a note to PHP Internals list 51(internals@lists.php.net) may help getting more feedback and quicker turnaround. 52You can also add pull requests to [bug reports](https://bugs.php.net/). 53 54Read [Git access page](https://www.php.net/git.php) for help on using Git to get 55and build PHP source code. We recommend to look at our 56[workflow](https://wiki.php.net/vcs/gitworkflow) and our 57[FAQ](https://wiki.php.net/vcs/gitfaq). 58 59## Filing bugs 60 61Bugs can be filed on the [PHP bug tracker](https://bugs.php.net/). If this is 62the first time you've filed a bug, we suggest reading the 63[guide to reporting a bug](https://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php). 64 65Where possible, please include a self-contained reproduction case! 66 67## Feature requests 68 69Feature requests are generally submitted in the form of 70[Requests for Comments (RFC)](https://wiki.php.net/rfc/howto), ideally 71accompanied by [pull requests](#pull-requests). You can find the extremely large 72list of RFCs that have been previously considered on the 73[PHP Wiki](https://wiki.php.net/rfc). 74 75To create a RFC, discuss it with the extension maintainer, and discuss it on the 76development mailing list internals@lists.php.net. RFC Wiki accounts can be 77requested on https://wiki.php.net/start?do=register. PHP extension maintainers 78can be found in the [EXTENSIONS](/EXTENSIONS) file in the PHP source code 79repository. Mailing list subscription is explained on the 80[mailing lists page](https://www.php.net/mailing-lists.php). 81 82You may also want to read 83[The Mysterious PHP RFC Process](https://blogs.oracle.com/opal/post/the-mysterious-php-rfc-process-and-how-you-can-change-the-web) 84for additional notes on the best way to approach submitting an RFC. 85 86## Writing tests 87 88We love getting new tests! PHP is a huge project and improving code coverage is 89a huge win for every PHP user. 90 91[Our QA site includes a page detailing how to write test cases.](https://qa.php.net/write-test.php) 92 93Submitting test scripts helps us to understand what functionality has changed. 94It is important for the stability and maintainability of PHP that tests are 95comprehensive. 96 97Failure conditions of `zend_parse_parameters`, `ZEND_PARSE_PARAMETERS()` and 98similar functions should not be tested. These parameter parsing APIs are already 99extensively tested, and additional tests only complicate future modifications. 100 101For newly created tests, a `--CREDITS--` section should no longer be included, 102as test authorship is already accurately tracked by Git. If multiple authors 103should be credited, the `Co-authored-by` tag in the commit message may be used. 104 105## Writing documentation 106 107There are two ways to contribute to the PHP manual. You can edit the manual and 108send patches anonymously via [the online editor](https://edit.php.net/), or you 109can check the XML source out from Subversion and edit that and build it 110[per the instructions on the documentation site](http://doc.php.net/tutorial/). 111Patches created that way should be sent to the 112[documentation mailing list](mailto:phpdoc@lists.php.net). 113 114## Getting help 115 116If you are having trouble contributing to PHP, or just want to talk to a human 117about what you're working on, you can contact us via the 118[internals mailing list](mailto:internals@lists.php.net), or the 119[documentation mailing list](mailto:phpdoc@lists.php.net) for documentation 120issues. 121 122Although not a formal channel, you can also find a number of core developers on 123the #php.pecl channel on [EFnet](http://www.efnet.org/). Similarly, many 124documentation writers can be found on #php.doc. Windows development IRC channel 125is available at #winphp-dev on FreeNode. 126 127## PHP source code directory structure 128 129PHP source code also includes several files generated during development and 130several parts where maintenance is happening upstream in their respective 131locations. 132 133```bash 134<php-src>/ 135 ├─ .git/ # Git configuration and source directory 136 ├─ TSRM/ # Thread Safe Resource Manager 137 └─ Zend/ # Zend Engine 138 ├─ zend_vm_execute.h # Generated by `Zend/zend_vm_gen.php` 139 ├─ zend_vm_opcodes.c # Generated by `Zend/zend_vm_gen.php` 140 ├─ zend_vm_opcodes.h # Generated by `Zend/zend_vm_gen.php` 141 └─ ... 142 ├─ appveyor/ # Appveyor CI service files 143 └─ build/ # *nix build system files 144 ├─ ax_*.m4 # https://github.com/autoconf-archive/autoconf-archive 145 ├─ config.guess # https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/config.git 146 ├─ config.sub # https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/config.git 147 ├─ libtool.m4 # https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/libtool.git 148 ├─ ltmain.sh # https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/libtool.git 149 ├─ shtool # https://www.gnu.org/software/shtool/ 150 └─ ... 151 ├─ docs/ # PHP internals and repository documentation 152 └─ ext/ # PHP core extensions 153 └─ bcmath/ 154 ├─ libbcmath/ # Forked and maintained in php-src 155 └─ ... 156 └─ curl/ 157 ├─ sync-constants.php # The curl symbols checker 158 └─ ... 159 └─ date/ 160 └─ lib/ # Bundled datetime library https://github.com/derickr/timelib 161 ├─ parse_date.c # Generated by re2c 0.15.3 162 ├─ parse_iso_intervals.c # Generated by re2c 0.15.3 163 └─ ... 164 └─ ... 165 └─ ffi/ 166 ├─ ffi_parser.c # Generated by https://github.com/dstogov/llk 167 └─ ... 168 └─ fileinfo/ 169 ├─ libmagic/ # Modified libmagic https://github.com/file/file 170 ├─ data_file.c # Generated by `ext/fileinfo/create_data_file.php` 171 ├─ libmagic.patch # Modifications patch from upstream libmagic 172 ├─ magicdata.patch # Modifications patch from upstream libmagic 173 └─ ... 174 └─ gd/ 175 ├─ libgd/ # Bundled and modified GD library https://github.com/libgd/libgd 176 └─ ... 177 └─ mbstring/ 178 ├─ libmbfl/ # Forked and maintained in php-src 179 ├─ unicode_data.h # Generated by `ext/mbstring/ucgendat/ucgendat.php` 180 └─ ... 181 └─ pcre/ 182 ├─ pcre2lib/ # https://www.pcre.org/ 183 └─ ... 184 └─ pdo_mysql/ 185 ├─ php_pdo_mysql_sqlstate.h # Generated by `ext/pdo_mysql/get_error_codes.php` 186 └─ ... 187 └─ skeleton/ # Skeleton for developing new extensions with `ext/ext_skel.php` 188 └─ ... 189 └─ standard/ 190 └─ html_tables/ 191 ├─ mappings/ # https://www.unicode.org/Public/MAPPINGS/ 192 └─ ... 193 ├─ credits_ext.h # Generated by `scripts/dev/credits` 194 ├─ credits_sapi.h # Generated by `scripts/dev/credits` 195 ├─ html_tables.h # Generated by `ext/standard/html_tables/html_table_gen.php` 196 └─ ... 197 └─ tokenizer/ 198 ├─ tokenizer_data.c # Generated by `ext/tokenizer/tokenizer_data_gen.sh` 199 └─ ... 200 └─ zend_test # For testing internal APIs. Not needed for regular builds. 201 └─ ... 202 └─ zip/ # Bundled https://github.com/pierrejoye/php_zip 203 └─ ... 204 └─ ... 205 └─ main/ # Binding that ties extensions, SAPIs, and engine together 206 ├─ streams/ # Streams layer subsystem 207 ├─ php_version.h # Generated by release managers using `configure` 208 └─ ... 209 ├─ pear/ # PEAR installation 210 └─ sapi/ # PHP SAPI modules 211 └─ cli/ 212 ├─ mime_type_map.h # Generated by `sapi/cli/generate_mime_type_map.php` 213 └─ ... 214 └─ ... 215 ├─ scripts/ # php-config, phpize and internal development scripts 216 ├─ tests/ # Core features tests 217 ├─ travis/ # Travis CI service files 218 └─ win32/ # Windows build system files 219 ├─ cp_enc_map.c # Generated by `win32/cp_enc_map_gen.exe` 220 └─ ... 221 └─ ... 222``` 223 224## PHP internals 225 226For information on PHP internal C functions see 227[References about Maintaining and Extending PHP](https://wiki.php.net/internals/references). 228Various external resources can be found on the web. A standard printed reference 229is the book "Extending and Embedding PHP" by Sara Golemon. 230 231## PECL extensions 232 233If you are fixing broken functionality in a [PECL](https://pecl.php.net) 234extension then create a bug or identify an existing bug at 235[bugs.php.net](https://bugs.php.net). A bug can be used to track the change 236progress and prevent your changes getting lost in the PHP mail archives. Some 237PECL extensions have their own bug tracker locations and different contributing 238procedures. 239 240If your change is large then create a 241[Request for Comments (RFC)](https://wiki.php.net/rfc), discuss it with the 242extension maintainer, and discuss it on the development mailing list 243pecl-dev@lists.php.net depending on the extension. PECL mailing list 244subscription is explained on the 245[PECL support page](https://pecl.php.net/support.php). 246 247Update any open bugs and add a link to the source of your change. Send the patch 248or pointer to the bug to pecl-dev@lists.php.net. Also CC the extension 249maintainer. Explain what has been changed by your patch. Test scripts should be 250included. 251 252## Checklist for submitting contribution 253 254- Read [Coding standards](/CODING_STANDARDS.md) before you start working. 255- Update git source just before running your final `diff` and before testing. 256- Add in-line comments and/or have external documentation ready. Use only 257 `/* */` style comments, not `//`. 258- Create test scripts for use with `make test`. 259- Run `make test` to check your change doesn't break other features. 260- Rebuild PHP with `--enable-debug` which will show some kinds of memory errors 261 and check the PHP and web server error logs after running your PHP tests. 262- Rebuild PHP with `--enable-zts` to check your change compiles and operates 263 correctly in a thread safe PHP. 264- Review the change once more just before submitting it. 265 266## What happens after submitting contribution? 267 268If your change is easy to review and obviously has no side-effects, it might be 269committed relatively quickly. 270 271Because PHP is a volunteer-driven effort more complex changes will require 272patience on your side. If you do not receive feedback in a few days, consider 273bumping. Before doing this think about these questions: 274 275- Did I send the patch to the right mailing list? 276- Did I review the mailing list archives to see if these kind of changes had 277 been discussed before? 278- Did I explain my change clearly? 279- Is my change too hard to review? Because of what factors? 280 281## What happens when your contribution is applied? 282 283Your name will likely be included in the Git commit log. If your change affects 284end users, a brief description and your name might be added to the [NEWS](/NEWS) 285file. 286 287## Git commit rules 288 289This section refers to contributors that have Git push access and make commit 290changes themselves. We'll assume you're basically familiar with Git, but feel 291free to post your questions on the mailing list. Please have a look at the more 292detailed [information on Git](https://git-scm.com/). 293 294PHP is developed through the efforts of a large number of people. Collaboration 295is a Good Thing(tm), and Git lets us do this. Thus, following some basic rules 296with regards to Git usage will: 297 298* Make everybody happier, especially those responsible for maintaining PHP 299 itself. 300* Keep the changes consistently well documented and easily trackable. 301* Prevent some of those 'Oops' moments. 302* Increase the general level of good will on planet Earth. 303 304Having said that, here are the organizational rules: 305 3061. Respect other people working on the project. 307 3082. Discuss any significant changes on the list before committing and get 309 confirmation from the release manager for the given branch. 310 3113. Look at [EXTENSIONS](/EXTENSIONS) file to see who is the primary maintainer 312 of the code you want to contribute to. 313 3144. If you "strongly disagree" about something another person did, don't start 315 fighting publicly - take it up in private email. 316 3175. If you don't know how to do something, ask first! 318 3196. Test your changes before committing them. We mean it. Really. To do so use 320 `make test`. 321 3227. For development use the `--enable-debug` switch to avoid memory leaks and the 323 `--enable-zts` switch to ensure your code handles TSRM correctly and doesn't 324 break for those who need that. 325 326Currently we have the following branches in use: 327 328| Branch | | 329| --------- | --------- | 330| master | Active development branch for PHP 8.0, which is open for backwards incompatible changes and major internal API changes. | 331| PHP-7.4 | Is used to release the PHP 7.4.x series. This is a current stable version and is open for bugfixes only. | 332| PHP-7.3 | Is used to release the PHP 7.3.x series. This is a current stable version and is open for bugfixes only. | 333| PHP-7.2 | Is used to release the PHP 7.2.x series. This is an old stable version and is open for security fixes only. | 334| PHP-7.1 | This branch is closed. | 335| PHP-7.0 | This branch is closed. | 336| PHP-5.6 | This branch is closed. | 337| PHP-5.5 | This branch is closed. | 338| PHP-5.4 | This branch is closed. | 339| PHP-5.3 | This branch is closed. | 340| PHP-5.2 | This branch is closed. | 341| PHP-5.1 | This branch is closed. | 342| PHP-4.4 | This branch is closed. | 343| PHP-X.Y.Z | These branches are used for the release managers for tagging the releases, hence they are closed to the general public. | 344 345The next few rules are more of a technical nature: 346 3471. All non-security bugfix changes should first go to the lowest bugfix branch 348 (i.e. 7.3) and then get merged up to all other branches. All security fixes 349 should go to the lowest security fixes branch (i.e 7.2). If a change is not 350 needed for later branches (i.e. fixes for features which were dropped from 351 later branches) an empty merge should be done. 352 3532. All news updates intended for public viewing, such as new features, bug 354 fixes, improvements, etc., should go into the NEWS file of *any stable 355 release* version with the given change. In other words, news about a bug fix 356 which went into PHP-5.4, PHP-5.5 and master should be noted in both 357 PHP-5.4/NEWS and PHP-5.5/NEWS but not master, which is not a public released 358 version yet. 359 3603. Do not commit multiple files and dump all messages in one commit. If you 361 modified several unrelated files, commit each group separately and provide a 362 nice commit message for each one. See example below. 363 3644. Do write your commit message in such a way that it makes sense even without 365 the corresponding diff. One should be able to look at it, and immediately 366 know what was modified. Definitely include the function name in the message 367 as shown below. 368 3695. In your commit messages, keep each line shorter than 80 characters. And try 370 to align your lines vertically, if they wrap. It looks bad otherwise. 371 3726. If you modified a function that is callable from PHP, prepend PHP to the 373 function name as shown below. 374 375The format of the commit messages is pretty simple. 376 377 <max 79 characters short description>\n 378 \n 379 <long description, 79 chars per line> 380 \n 381 382An Example from the git project (commit 2b34e486bc): 383 384 pack-objects: Fix compilation with NO_PTHREDS 385 386 It looks like commit 99fb6e04 (pack-objects: convert to use parse_options(), 387 2012-02-01) moved the #ifdef NO_PTHREDS around but hasn't noticed that the 388 'arg' variable no longer is available. 389 390If you fix some bugs, you should note the bug ID numbers in your commit message. 391Bug ID should be prefixed by `#`. 392 393Example: 394 395 Fixed bug #14016 (pgsql notice handler double free crash bug.) 396 397When you change the NEWS file for a bug fix, then please keep the bugs sorted in 398decreasing order under the fixed version. 399 400You can use [gitweb](https://git.php.net/) to look at PHP Git repository in 401various ways. 402 403## Copyright and license headers 404 405New source code files should include the following header block: 406 407```c 408/* 409 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ 410 | Copyright (c) The PHP Group | 411 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ 412 | This source file is subject to version 3.01 of the PHP license, | 413 | that is bundled with this package in the file LICENSE, and is | 414 | available through the world-wide-web at the following url: | 415 | https://www.php.net/license/3_01.txt | 416 | If you did not receive a copy of the PHP license and are unable to | 417 | obtain it through the world-wide-web, please send a note to | 418 | license@php.net so we can mail you a copy immediately. | 419 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ 420 | Author: | 421 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ 422*/ 423``` 424 425Thank you for contributing to PHP! 426
