# Contributing to Marked

- [ ] Fork `markedjs/marked`.
- [ ] Clone the library locally using GitHub Desktop or the command line.
- [ ] Make sure you are on the `master` branch.
- [ ] Be sure to run `npm install` or `npm update`.
- [ ] Create a branch.
- [ ] Make as small a change as possible.
- [ ] Run `npm test`, fix any broken things (for linting, you can run `npm run lint` to have the linter fix them for you).
- [ ] Submit a PR.

## Design principles

Marked tends to favor following the SOLID set of software design and development principles; mainly the [single responsibility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_responsibility_principle) and [open/closed principles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open/closed_principle):

- **Single responsibility:** Marked, and the components of Marked, have the single responsibility of converting Markdown strings into HTML.
- **Open/closed:** Marked favors giving developers the means to easily extend the library and its components over changing Marked's behavior through configuration options.

## Priorities

We think we have our priorities sorted to build quality in.

The following table lists the ticket type labels we use when there is work to be done on the code either through an Issue or a PR; in priority order.

|Ticket type label                  |Description                                                                                                                            |
|:----------------------------------|:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|L0 - security                      |A security vulnerability within the Marked library is discovered.                                                                      |
|L1 - broken                        |Valid usage results in incorrect output compared to [supported specifications](https://github.com/markedjs/marked/blob/master/AUTHORS.md#specifications) OR causes marked to crash AND there is no known workaround for the issue.                                                                        |
|L2 - annoying                      |Similar to L1 - broken only there is a known workaround avaialable for the issue.                                                      |
|RR - refactor and re-engineer      |Results in an improvement to developers using Marked (improved readability) or end-users (faster performance) or both.                 |
|NFS - new feature (spec related)   |A capability Marked does not currently provide but is in one of the [supported specifications](https://github.com/markedjs/marked/blob/master/AUTHORS.md#specifications)|
|NFU - new feature (user requested) |A capability Marked does not currently provide but has been requested by users of Marked.                                              |

## Test early, often, and everything

We try to write test cases to validate output (writing tests based on the [supported specifications](https://github.com/markedjs/marked/blob/master/AUTHORS.md#specifications)) and minimize regression (writing tests for issues fixed). Therefore, if you would like to contribute, some things you should know regarding the test harness.

|Location      |Description                                         |
|:-------------|:---------------------------------------------------|
|/test/browser |For testing Marked in a client-side implementation. |
|/test/new     |Tests not related to the original `markdown.pl`.    |
|/test/original|Tests validating against the original `markdown.pl`.|

If your test uses features or options, assuming `gfm` is set to `false`, for example, you can add [front-matter](https://www.npmjs.com/package/front-matter) to the top of
your `.md` file

``` yml
---
gfm: false
---
```

## Submitting PRs and Issues

Marked provides templates for submitting both pull requests and issues. When you begin creating a new PR or issue, you will see instructions on using the template.

The PR templates include checklists for both the submitter and the reviewer, which, in most cases, will not be the same person.

## Scripts

When it comes to NPM commands, we try to use the native scripts provided by the NPM framework.

To run the tests:

``` bash
npm test
```

To test whether you are using the standard syntax rules for the project:

```bash
npm run test:lint
```

To see time comparisons between Marked and other popular Markdown libraries:

```bash
npm run bench
```

To check for (and fix) standardized syntax (lint):

```bash
npm run lint
```

To build your own minified version of Marked:

```bash
npm run build
```

## Releasing

Creating GitHub releases and publishing to NPM is limited to conributors and owners. If you would like more information, please see our [releasing documentation](https://github.com/markedjs/marked/blob/master/RELEASING.md).