h1. How to contribute

You can:

# Help others on "forum":http://answers.opencv.org.

# Provide feedback: report bugs, request features.

# Submit a code: create a ticket with the _Patch_ tracker (issue type). Please note, that we're going to switch to pull requests from github. Here is the right project to fork: https://github.com/Itseez/opencv.

# "Donate":https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=S6yP-WpBdj9fqmhF-dA6LlSed0Vmpkyn2rm2uTw38--Z7CnQMJboOIRDTN8&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d7283e7f0184a5674430f290db9e9c846.

# Say "thanks":http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencvlibrary/reviews/.

*Below are some recommendations for contributors. They are raw, but can be used as a starting point for anybody who wants to see his code added to the library.*

We would gladly accept such a contribution, but because of little resources available on our side, I would ask you to do all the preparations. Here is the checklist, including both generic items and the specific things related to your code that I found after brief inspection:

# A prerequisite: is the algorithm patented? If yes, then we may not be that interested in putting it in.

# License - the current license is fine, it's compatible with OpenCV.

# Interface. Here some work is needed to make this code a seamless part of OpenCV.

** @M_PI -> CV_PI@

** You should remove all the static constants from the header. it's not portable and generally a bad practice. Use defines and enumerations.

** cv:: and std:: should not be used in the header, since all the stuff is already inside cv namespace and we already have "using std::vector", "using std::string" directives.

** "m_" in member names should be dropped, we do not this convention in OpenCV.

# Implementation.

** The code should be portable, it should compile fine on ARM too, for example. Therefore, you should not use SSE2 intrinsics outside of conditional compilation. Instead of "#ifdef USE_SSE" you should use "#if CV_SSE2".

** Avoiding duplication of existing OpenCV functionality. 

** Writing to cerr should be replaced with CV_Error() calls.

# Documentation.

** Documentation in RST format should be provided for the functionality. Check http://docs.opencv.org/modules/features2d/doc/feature_detection_and_description.html#orb as example.

# You should provide sample code.

** help() function should be added, check opencv/samples/cpp.

# Regression tests - the code should include some regression tests.

** Please, take a look at opencv/modules/features2d/test/test_features2d.cpp. You will need to add a similar test for your code.

# Integration

** Take the latest snapshot of the SVN trunk

** Add your code to the snaphot

** Insert documentation and add the test to the corresponding module

** Build OpenCV, run tests. If you have access to both Linux and Windows - great! Sometimes GCC-approved code does not built with MSVC and vice versa.

** Create patch file and either send it to me by e-mail or submit it as patch at code.opencv.org.