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'''XBMC''' (formerly named "XBox Media Center") is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open_source_software free and open source software (GPL)] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-platform Cross-platform] media player and media center entertainment hub. Originally developed as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBox_Media_Player XBox Media Player (XBMP)] for the first-generation [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox Xbox game console] in 2002, XBMC eventually have became a complete [[graphical user interface]] replacement for the [[Xbox Dashboard]] and more, as it has also been ported to also run natively under Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows operating-system.
{{Kodi_development_nav}}
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=Contributing to the XBMC project=
__TOC__
Third-party developers/programmers can make and submit [[What_Is_Source_Code|source code]] patches/modules with new features, functions or bug-fixes to us via our [http://sourceforge.net/projects/xbmc SourceForge.net project site]. XBMC's [[What_Is_Source_Code|source code]] is made up of a mix of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language programming-languages] (mostly C++ with some Assembly, and C libraries). XBMC uses Microsoft DirectX multimedia framework (Direct3D) on the Xbox (as the Xbox does not support OpenGL), and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_DirectMedia_Layer SDL (Simple DirectMedia Layer) framework with OpenGL rendering for other operating-system platforms, (such as Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows). XBMC main program (including the GUI) is mainly developed in Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 (7.1) IDE and for the Xbox requires a copy of the latest [[Microsoft Xbox SDK]] (a.k.a. [[XDK]]) to be compiled, (later versions of Microsoft Visual Studio are not supported by the [[XDK]]). XBMC's code also contain four multimedia-player ''cores'' which has to be compiled seperatly, (and work seemslessly to the end-user), none of these ''player-cores'' require the [[XDK]] to be compiled, (they are instead compiled with [http://www.mingw.org MinGW/MSYS]). One generic audio/video-player core based on [[MPlayer]], one [[DVDPlayer#Development|in-house developed (FFmpeg-based) dedicated DVD-Video player core]] (for DVD-movies with menus), one [[PAPlayer|in-house developed dedicated music-player core]], and one [[MODPlayer|in-house developed Tracker-Mod (audio-modules) player]].
{{-}}
== Topics ==
{{see also|Category:Development}}
{{development links}}


Some of the XBMC libraries are in the C [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language programming-languages] but those then uses a C++ wrapper and are loaded via XBMC's own DLL loader. The Xbox Operating-System/BIOS is kind of Win32-based however it does have all of the resources or capabilities of a full Microsoft Windows Operating-System, (for example: DirectShow, registry, nor DLL are nativly supported on the Xbox). Because of the constraints on the hardware  (like only 64MB shared memory and a 733Mhz PIII CPU) and the XDK environment of the Xbox, all software development for XBMC is highly focused on reserving the limited resourses that exist, the main hindrance of which is the amount of available random access memory at any one time, (which is why XBMC code structure is built so modular, enabling libraries to be unloaded when they are not in active use). For more detailed information about XBMC inner working please follow these links and the categories at the end of this article:
== Source code ==
* See: https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc


=XBMC programming and code formatting convention guidelines=
== Development Tools ==
:'''Note!''' More specifics to come based on ongoing discussions, see [http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5238 Proposed code formatting conventions for XBMC]
* [http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/doxygen/ Doxygen] - Source code documentation generator tool.


==General guidelines==
== People who can help you with specific development areas of Kodi ==
Your first point of call is to post on the forum in the development section. This will attract the attention of the developer knowledgeable in the field you are working on.
 
== Other tools and resources ==
Though any other tools or resources are not required they can possibly help in development.
* Eclipse CDT Setup For XBMC Development
* [http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/doxygen/ Doxygen] - Source code documentation generator tool.
* [http://valgrind.org Valgrind] (for Linux) - a free Linux programming tool for memory debugging, memory leak detection, and profiling.
* [http://www.daimi.au.dk/~sandmann/sysprof/ Sysprof] (for Linux) - a free System-wide Linux Profiler for tracking CPU usage. Sysprof is a sampling CPU profiler for Linux that uses a kernel module to profile the entire system, not just a single application. Sysprof handles shared libraries, and applications do not need to be recompiled. In fact they don't even have to be restarted. Just insert the kernel module and start sysprof.
 
== General guidelines ==
* Code documentation (DocBook, rst, or [http://www.doxygen.org doxygen] for the code documentation steps, preferably the latter, [http://www.doxygen.org doxygen])
* Code documentation (DocBook, rst, or [http://www.doxygen.org doxygen] for the code documentation steps, preferably the latter, [http://www.doxygen.org doxygen])
* Self-containment - XBMC should be as little dependent as possible on operating-system and third-party services/deamons/libraries
* Self-containment - Kodi should be as little dependent as possible on operating-system and third-party services/daemons/libraries
**XBMC should for example contain all file-system and network-client (like samba) support built-into the XBMC package
** Kodi should for example contain all file-system and network-client (like samba) support built-into the XBMC package
* Modular design - independent modules made up by localized/isolated code libraries without dependencies
* Modular design - independent modules made up by localized/isolated code libraries without dependencies
** XBMC should still compile and run if a non-essencial module/library is disabled or removed
** Kodi should still compile and run if a non-essential module/library is disabled or removed
* Aim for the GUI/interface to run smoothly on a low spec computer (less than 1Ghz)
* Aim for the GUI/interface to run smoothly on a low spec computer (single core with less than 1Ghz)
**3D graphic controller (GPU) will always be required hardware for XBMC so try to utilize the GPU as much as possible
** 3D graphic controller (GPU) will always be required hardware for Kodi so try to utilize the GPU as much as possible
* Avoid harddisk trashing (excess read/write/erase cycles), so no harddrive paging, (utilize RAM memory intead).
* Avoid hard-disk trashing (excess read/write/erase cycles), so no hard-drive paging, (utilize RAM memory instead).
**End-users will be running XBMC and the operating-system on Solid-State memory as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiveDistro Live CD (LiveDistro)] of a USB-key
** End-users will be running Kodi and the operating-system on solid-State memory as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiveDistro Live CD (LiveDistro)] of a USB-key
* Fast load and boot times for end-user perception (other thing can still run/start in the background without the user knowledge)
* Fast load and boot times for end-user perception (other things can still run/start in the background without the user knowledge)
 
** 15-seconds or less from when the end user press the power-button on the computer till he/she can browse the GUI
==User-friendliness is next to godlyness==
One of [[Team-XBMC]] major ongoing goal have always been to make XBMC and its [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/user_interface user interface] even more [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/intuitive intuitive] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/user-friendliness user-friendly] for its [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user end-users], based on the '''KISS''' ('''K'''eep '''I'''t '''S'''imple '''S'''tupid) philosophy. We think that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability usability] is very important for media players like XBMC. Many user interface deciscions are being made by developers who often have little experience in user interface design, in order to improve this, we try to listen to XBMC's end-users for how XBMC is actually being used and how we can improve the user experience. We also aim to do regular overhauls, improving existing features/functions, and scrapping outdated code and features/functions (as "to much stuff" can also be a bad thing).
===XBMC as a whole must...===
*Be easy to install, set-up, configure, and maintain, (so that the end-users do not get fed up with it and quit).
*Have an user interface simple and intuitive enough so that less geek-savvy people are not intimidated by it.
**Make common usage easy, simple '[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-computer_interaction Human–Computer Interaction (HCI)]', from the viewpoint of an ordinary user.
*Be able to play audio and video files that have been compressed using divx, xvid, etc. directly out-of-the-box
*Be able to and organize audio and video files in an easy and user-friendly way.
*Use standards and be consistant, (the music section can for example not use completely different controls from the video section)
*Perform actions in the GUI with as few 'clicks' as possible
*Require little to none non-GUI configuration (and all such non-GUI config should be via [[advancedsettings.xml]])
**There is still a little work to be done here, for example RSS-feeds settings need to moved to the GUI
*Look nice.
 
=Development Catagory Sections=
*[http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Category:Inner_Workings XBMC Inner Workings]
*[http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Category:Development Development]
*[http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Category:Skin_Development Skin_Development]
 
=Development HOW-TO=
*[[HOW-TO Submit a Proper Bug Report|HOW-TO submit a proper bug report]]
*[[HOW-TO submit a patch|HOW-TO submit a patch (contribute source code)]]
*[[Basic overview of the XBMC source code]]
*[[Information on Language Support]]
**[[Keyboard Internationalisation|Overview of input methods + code changes for multi keyboard language support]]
*[[HOW-TO debug Dynamic Link Libraries|HOW-TO debug Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL)]]
*[[Building Scripts|Creating Python Scripts (widget plugins)]]
*[[Apply to join the Official XBMC Development-Team]]
 
Note! If you are a programmer/developer but not have access to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Visual_Studio VS.NET] and the [[XDK]] then you can work on [[Linux port project|XBMC for Linux]], [[HOW-TO compile XBMC for Mac OS X from source code|XBMC for Mac OS X]], or [[HOW-TO: Compile XBMC for Win32 from source code|XBMC for Windows (Win32)]], or you can contribute indirectly by helping the [http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net FFmpeg] (and the [http://www.mplayerhq.hu MPlayer]) project. See bellow for more information.
 
==XBMC for Linux==
*[[XBMC for Linux port project]]
*[[HOW-TO compile XBMC for Linux from source code]]
 
==XBMC for Mac OS X==
XBMC for Mac OS X is a sub-project of the *[[Linux port project|XBMC Linux port project]]:
*[[HOW-TO compile XBMC for Mac OS X from source code]]
 
==XBMC for Windows (Win32)==
XBMC for Windows (Win32) is a sub-project of the *[[Linux port project|XBMC Linux port project]]:
*[[HOW-TO compile XBMC for Windows from source code]]


==XBMC for Xbox==
== Code guidelines and formatting conventions ==
*[[HOW-TO compile XBMC for Xbox from source code]]
[[Official:Code_guidelines_and_formatting_conventions|Official: Code guidelines and formatting conventions]]
*[[HOW-TO:_Compile_Mplayer.dll|HOW-TO compile mplayer.dll from source code]]


=Contact methods=
These are developers forums for XBMC development, (programmers/coders only!).<br>
Respect, these are not for posting feature-requests or end-user support requests!
* IRC: [irc://irc.freenode.net/xbmc-linux #xbmc-linux on freenode] official [http://freenode.net IRC network channel] for the XBMC Linux port project
**(You may also sometimes find developers hanging out at [irc://irc.freenode.net/xbmc #xbmc on freenode])
* IRC: [irc://irc.freenode.net/xbmc-osx #xbmc-osx on freenode] official [http://freenode.net IRC network channel] for the XBMC Mac OS X port
* [http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=41 XBMC for Linux port Community-Forum for developers only]
** [http://xboxmediacenter.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=52 XBMC for Linux port Community-Forum for end-users (unmoderated so far)]
* [http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57 XBMC for Mac OS X port Community-Forum for developers only]
** [http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=56 XBMC for Mac OS X port Community-Forum for end-users (unmoderated so far)]
* [[HOW-TO submit a patch]] (where and how to submit source code)


== Contact methods ==
* IRC: [irc://irc.libera.chat:6697/kodi-dev #kodi-dev on LiberaChat] ([https://libera.chat/ LiberaChat]) focused on Kodi development | via [https://web.libera.chat/#kodi-dev Kodi-dev on Libera Webchat] | Generic Kodi support via IRC: [irc://irc.libera.chat:6697/kodi #kodi on LiberaChat].
* Forum: [https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=93 Kodi Development Community Forum]
* [[HOW-TO:Submit_a_patch]] (where and how to submit source code)


[[category:Appendix]]
[[Category:Development]]
[[category:Inner Workings]]
[[Category:Skin development]]
[[category:Development]]
[[category:Skin Development]]
[[category:Linux]]
[[category:Mac OS X]]
[[category:To-Do]]
[[category:Google Summer of Code]]

Latest revision as of 10:55, 4 December 2021

Development:
Home icon grey.png   ▶ Development


Topics

See also: Category:Development
Kodi development
Specific topics
Skinning
Add-ons

Source code

Development Tools

  • Doxygen - Source code documentation generator tool.

People who can help you with specific development areas of Kodi

Your first point of call is to post on the forum in the development section. This will attract the attention of the developer knowledgeable in the field you are working on.

Other tools and resources

Though any other tools or resources are not required they can possibly help in development.

  • Eclipse CDT Setup For XBMC Development
  • Doxygen - Source code documentation generator tool.
  • Valgrind (for Linux) - a free Linux programming tool for memory debugging, memory leak detection, and profiling.
  • Sysprof (for Linux) - a free System-wide Linux Profiler for tracking CPU usage. Sysprof is a sampling CPU profiler for Linux that uses a kernel module to profile the entire system, not just a single application. Sysprof handles shared libraries, and applications do not need to be recompiled. In fact they don't even have to be restarted. Just insert the kernel module and start sysprof.

General guidelines

  • Code documentation (DocBook, rst, or doxygen for the code documentation steps, preferably the latter, doxygen)
  • Self-containment - Kodi should be as little dependent as possible on operating-system and third-party services/daemons/libraries
    • Kodi should for example contain all file-system and network-client (like samba) support built-into the XBMC package
  • Modular design - independent modules made up by localized/isolated code libraries without dependencies
    • Kodi should still compile and run if a non-essential module/library is disabled or removed
  • Aim for the GUI/interface to run smoothly on a low spec computer (single core with less than 1Ghz)
    • 3D graphic controller (GPU) will always be required hardware for Kodi so try to utilize the GPU as much as possible
  • Avoid hard-disk trashing (excess read/write/erase cycles), so no hard-drive paging, (utilize RAM memory instead).
    • End-users will be running Kodi and the operating-system on solid-State memory as a Live CD (LiveDistro) of a USB-key
  • Fast load and boot times for end-user perception (other things can still run/start in the background without the user knowledge)
    • 15-seconds or less from when the end user press the power-button on the computer till he/she can browse the GUI

Code guidelines and formatting conventions

Official: Code guidelines and formatting conventions


Contact methods

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