.. _development:

**********************
Development Guidelines
**********************

Welcome to the quactuary development documentation! We're excited that you're interested in contributing to the quantum-accelerated actuarial modeling framework. This guide will help you get started with contributing to the project, whether you're fixing bugs, adding new features, or improving documentation.

quactuary is an open-source project that welcomes contributions from the community. We believe that diverse perspectives and contributions make the project stronger and more useful for everyone.

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 2
   :caption: Contributing to quactuary

   contributing
   setting_up_environment
   code_standards
   testing_guidelines
   performance_testing
   documentation_guidelines
   mcp_development
   submitting_changes
   issue_reporting
   community_guidelines

Quick Start for Contributors
=============================

If you're eager to get started, here's the quickest path to making your first contribution:

1. **Browse Issues**: Check out `open issues <https://github.com/AlexFiliakov/quactuary/issues>`_ to find something that interests you
2. **Fork & Clone**: Fork the repository and clone your fork locally
3. **Set Up Environment**: Follow our :doc:`setting_up_environment` guide
4. **Make Changes**: Create a feature branch and implement your changes
5. **Test**: Ensure your code has ≥90% test coverage with ``pytest --cov``
6. **Submit**: Open a pull request with a clear description of your changes

Getting Help
============

If you need help at any point in the contribution process:

* **GitHub Issues**: Ask questions on our `issue tracker <https://github.com/AlexFiliakov/quactuary/issues>`_
* **Documentation**: Check our comprehensive docs at `docs.quactuary.com <https://docs.quactuary.com>`_
* **Community**: Join discussions in our GitHub repository

We're here to help make your contribution experience as smooth as possible!

Types of Contributions We Welcome
==================================

We welcome many different types of contributions:

**Code Contributions**
  * Bug fixes
  * New features
  * Performance improvements
  * Algorithm implementations
  * Test coverage improvements
  * MCP tool development

**Documentation**
  * API documentation improvements
  * Tutorial writing
  * Example notebooks
  * Translation of documentation

**Community**
  * Bug reports
  * Feature requests
  * Code reviews
  * Helping other contributors

**Research**
  * Quantum algorithm development
  * Actuarial method research
  * Performance benchmarking
  * Mathematical validation

Recognition
===========

Contributors are recognized in several ways:

* Contributors list in the repository
* Acknowledgment in release notes for significant contributions
* Co-authorship opportunities for research contributions
* Community recognition and thanks

We value all contributions, from single-line bug fixes to major feature additions!