Some pointers to start contributing to Mathics

[Sivakumar Balasubramanian]

Hi all,
I recently started using Mathics and am starting to really enjoy using it. I was once a avid Mathematica user, and then switched to open source tools like R and iPython. Althought I love using python, I really did miss the elegance and functional style of Mathematica. I am so glad to have found Mathics.

I am not only interested in using Mathics, but also want to contribute to its development. I have a few years of Python, and C programming experience. However, I have never contributed to any Open source projects before this. I have forked the Mathics repository, but kind of feel lost as to where to go from here. It would be helpful if someone could point me towards good starting points from where I could understand the structure of the Mathics source code? May be once I have a decent overview I can make some contributions.

I look forward to you reply

Thank you.
Siva

[Angus]

Hi Siva,

Sorry about the delayed response.

We have a basic workflow guide on github, https://github.com/mathics/Mathics/wiki/Contributing.

The usual recommended starting point is to take a function you use/know from Mathematica and see if it's implemented correctly in Mathics.
If not, have a go at implementing it and submit a pull request. Even if your attempt isn't quite correct someone can give you some pointers.

Let me know if you have questions :)

Angus