[NTG-context] Re: Steps to become a ConTeXt developer

Am 28.08.24 um 10:57 schrieb Shiv Shankar Dayal:

On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 8:17 AM Jethro Djan wrote:

...

Hi,

Not sure what you mean by a core ConTeXt developer. I think, as with anything, you get better at it by using it extensively. I would focus on a use case of interest and take advantage of ConTeXt’s unmatched extensibility to automate much of it as possible. Then you ask for help when you get stuck.

If you want to contribute to ConTeXt, maybe start by having a look at the source and try to understand what’s going on (should be accessible to you since you are a C developer). If you identify a bug, or want to propose a feature, I am sure the community will support you however it can.

Jethro

I want to contribute to ConTeXt. I think that the steps for me should be:

1. Learn TeX 2. Learn LuaMetaTeX

and then I can approach the C code. It won't make any sense if I just start reading the LuaMetaTeX code.

Sure, without a deep understanding of TeX it makes no sense to try anything with the C code. Also, most of ConTeXt is written in Lua. If you want to contribute, help with documentation – there are still too many commands and options undocumented in the wiki. If you don’t understand enough of ConTeXt to do that, anything deeper makes no sense anyway. Hraban