Development: Difference between revisions

From Official Kodi Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
>Tmpdir
mNo edit summary
 
(67 intermediate revisions by 18 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
This page is about XBMC develop in general. Operating system specific information can be found on the following pages.
{{Kodi_development_nav}}
{{mininav}}


*[[XBMC for Linux|XBMC for Linux development]]
__TOC__
*[[XBMC for Mac|XBMC for Mac development]]
{{-}}
*[[XBMC for Windows|XBMC for Windows development]]
== Topics ==
{{see also|Category:Development}}
{{development links}}


== Source code ==
* See: https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc


=Compiling XBMC=
== Development Tools ==
[[XBMC_for_Windows]]
* [http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/doxygen/ Doxygen] - Source code documentation generator tool.


=XBMC programming and code formatting convention guidelines=
== People who can help you with specific development areas of Kodi ==
:'''Note!''' More specifics to come based on ongoing discussions, see [http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=5238 Proposed code formatting conventions for XBMC]
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.


==General guidelines==
== 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 (single core with 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
** 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|Official: Code guidelines and formatting conventions]]


==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...===
== Contact methods ==
*Be easy to install, set up, and maintain, (so that the end-users do not get fed up with it and quit).
* 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].
*Have an user interface simple and intuitive enough so that less geek-savvy people are not intimidated by it.
* Forum: [https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=93 Kodi Development Community Forum]
**Make common usage easy, simple '[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-computer_interaction Human–Computer Interaction (HCI)]', from the viewpoint of an ordinary user.
* [[HOW-TO:Submit_a_patch]] (where and how to submit source code)
*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.


===XBMC developers should always strive to===
[[Category:Development]]
* '''Promote open source''' - XBMC is based on the ideas of FOSS (free open source software), licensed under the GPL and builds partly on other open source projects which we do our best to support. The GPL should be respected at all times. All code should be committed to the XBMC project’s SVN before any public binaries are released.
[[Category:Skin development]]
* '''Promote the sharing of knowledge and collaboration''' - Through the use of information sharing tools and practices XBMC is a collaborative environment.
* '''Understand that development is a team effort''' - Treating our users as co-developers has proven to be the most effective option for rapid development. Always strive to work as a team at all times. Actively promote discussion on new features and bug fixes, and respect others comments and criticisms with replies in a timely fashion.
* '''Apply the Law of Diminishing Return''' - The majority of the effort should be invested in implementing features which have the most benefit and widest general usage by the community.
* '''Try to make all code, feature, and functions to be platform agnostic''' - XBMC is a multi-platform software, thus any single platform specific features should be discussed with other team members before implemented. Major features should be developed in a separate branch or committed in small increments so that other members have the opportunity to review the code and comment on it during development.

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

Retrieved from "https://kodi.wiki/index.php?title=Development&oldid=240773"