BoostSRL Contributing Guidelines

Our goal is to push the boundaries of machine learning through open development and explanable approaches to decision-making in both learning and inference. We believe that these are some of the best ways to create trustworthy systems that people can learn from and interract with in their daily lives.

Any suggestions or contributions which further this goal are welcome.

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Contents

1. How to ask a question?
2. How to file a bug report?
3. How to suggest a new feature?

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How to ask a question?

Start by:

1. Consulting the BoostSRL Wiki
2. Checking if the question has been asked previously by reviewing the issues.

If your question is unanswered, decide if email or a GitHub issue is more applicable.

1. By email

• Sriraam Natarajan (Sriraam.Natarajan@utdallas.edu): Questions about the algorithms, modes, or software.
• Alexander L. Hayes (Alexander.Hayes@utdallas.edu): Wiki clarifications, corrections, or questions.

2. GitHub issues

• Follow all directions in the issue template.
• Ask a question that is direct and coherent. Explain your thinking and where you are getting stuck.

How to file a bug report?

Start with development environment details:

1. Operating system (e.g. Windows 10 64-bit, macOS High Sierra, Fedora 24 Desktop).
2. Java version (java -version on Linux/macOS, Windows instructions on java.com.)
3. BoostSRL version.
4. Were you using source code or a Jar file?
5. Which IDE were you using? (e.g. Eclipse, Visual Studio)

Describe what you were doing that possibly led to the unexpected behavior.

How to suggest a new feature?

We improve BoostSRL as we progress further in our research. If something fairly significant is missing, explain what it is and provide some citations where we can learn more about it.