Getting started with hacking on GHC ----------------------------------- So you've decided to hack on GHC, congratulations! We hope you have a rewarding experience. This file will point you in the direction of information to help you get started right away. The GHC Developer's Wiki ------------------------ The home for GHC Developers, with information on accessing the latest sources, the bug tracker, and documentation on the code: http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc In particular, the wiki contains the following pages of interest to new hackers: Quick Start for developers http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/Building/Hacking This section on the wiki will get you up and running with a serviceable build tree in no time. Don't skip this! By default, GHC builds with all optimizations and profiling; most hackers will want a quicker build, so creating a mk/build.mk file and knowing how to rebuild only parts of GHC is very important. This is part of the "Building GHC" section of the wiki, which has more detailed information on GHC's build system should you need it. Coding conventions http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/WorkingConventions This wiki page explains the ground rules for code that is intended to go into the mainline compiler source. The GHC Commentary http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/Commentary Notes on the internals and architecture of GHC. Mailing lists ------------- Ask on glasgow-haskell-users@haskell.org if you have difficulties. If you're working with the current darcs sources of GHC, then cvs-ghc@haskell.org might be a more appropriate (developers hang out here). See http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo for subscription. Happy Hacking! --The GHC Team