3 The Class Library should be compatible with Microsoft's .NET
6 Please see the <a href="class-status.html">Class Status</a>
7 page for a status of who is working on which classes.
9 We will write as much code as possible in C#. We may need to
10 interface with code written in C to gain access to the
11 functionality of libraries like libart, Gtk+, and libc.
15 We welcome contributions to the the Class Library. To get
16 started, check the status page for information about which
17 APIs are being worked on, and how to get in touch with
18 individual maintainers.
20 If you want to work on a class, first check the <a
21 href="download.html">Classes Distribution</a> to see if it is
22 not implemented yet, if not, check the <a
23 href="class-status.html">Class Status</a> to see if someone is
24 already working on it, and maybe contact them.
26 If nobody is working on it, mail <a
27 href="mailto:mono-list@ximian.com">mono-list@ximian.com</a>
28 with the class you want to implement and CC <a
29 href="mailto:miguel@ximian.com">miguel@ximian.com</a>
33 The Class Library resides in the `mcs' module in the directoy
36 Each directory in the directory represents the assembly where
37 the code belongs to, and inside each directory we divide the
38 code based on the namespace they implement.
40 There are two cases when we should consider portability: when
41 we are dealing with a couple of classes only that differ from
42 system to system (Consider System.Net and System.IO for Win32
43 and Unix). In those cases we will just place the files for
44 example on <t>corlib/System/System.IO/Unix-Console.cs</t> and
45 <t>corlib/System/System.IO/Win32-Console.cs</t>.
47 For classes that might differ more (for example, the
48 implementation of Windows.Forms), we might have different
49 directories altogether: <t>System.Windows.Forms/Win32</t>,
50 <t>System.Windows.Forms/Gtk+</t> and
51 <t>System.Windows.Forms/Cocoa</t>.
53 ** Using existing components from GNOME.
55 Our current plan is to implement the GUI tools on top of
56 Gtk+. The only obstacle here is that applications from Windows
57 might expect to be able to pull the HWND property from the
58 widgets and use PInvoke to call Windows functions.
60 ** Class Library and Win32 dependencies.
62 There are a few spots where the Win32 foundation is exposed to
63 the class library (for example, the HDC and HWND properties in
64 the GDI+). Casual inspection suggests that these can be
65 safely mapped to Gdk's GC and GdkWindow pointers without
68 The only drawback is that support for PInvoke of Win32 code
69 won't be available. An alternate solution would be to use
70 portions of Wine, or even to use Wine as our toolkit.
72 *** Initial GDI+ and WinForms implementation
74 The initial implementation will use Gtk+ as the underlying
75 toolkit. Since GTK+ has already been ported to many windowing
76 systems other than X (including frame buffer, Win32, and BeOS)
77 its use should cover most applications for most users.
81 We will implement ADO.NET functionality by reusing <a
82 href="http://www.gnome-db.org">GNOME-DB</a>. This is an ideal
83 choice, since GNOME-DB was implemented precisely to provide an
84 ADO-like system for GNOME.
86 *** Component Integration
88 We will provide a new namespace to use GNOME specific features
89 as well as a namespace to host Bonobo interfaces and classes
94 The class library will be licensed under the terms of the GNU
95 LGPL. Some people have pointed out that the plain LGPL is
96 troublesome for embedded use of the Mono class libraries. So
97 we are considering to use the GPL with a special exception
99 href="http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/classpath.html">GNU
100 Classpath</a> project did.
102 The exception to the GPL would be:
104 <i>The library is distributed under the terms of the GNU General
105 Public License with the following exception:
107 If you link this library against your own program, then you do not
108 need to release the source code for that program. However, any
109 changes that you make to the library itself, or to any native
110 methods upon which the library relies, must be re-distributed in
111 accordance with the terms of the GPL.</i>
113 If you are going to contribute, please keep in mind that we
114 might require you to agree that Ximian might adjust the
115 license to enable the use of the class libraries on embedded
116 systems or to develop proprietary applications using Mono.
118 We suggest that you assign the copyright of your work to the
119 GNOME Foundation or the Free Software Foundation to simplify
120 defending the code in case it is used inappropiately.
122 ** Class Library testing
124 We need to write regression tests that will verify
125 the correctness of the class library, compiler, and JIT
128 ** Coding conventions
130 Please follow the conventions on the ECMA specification (On
131 the Annex Partition) for your coding your libraries.
133 Use 8 space tabs for writing your code (hopefully we can keep
134 this consistent). If you are modifying someone else's code, try
135 to keep the coding style similar.
137 For a rationale on 8 space tabs, read Linus Torvald's Coding
138 Style guidelines in the Linux kernel source for a rationale.
140 *** Missing implementation bits
142 If you implement a class and you are missing implementation bits,
143 please put in the code the word "TODO" and a description of what
144 is missing to be implemented.
146 *** Tagging buggy code
148 If there is a bug in your implementation tag the problem by using
149 the word "FIXME" in the code, together with a description of the
152 Do not use XXX or obscure descriptions, because otherwise people
153 will not be able to understand what you mean.
155 *** Tagging Lame specs
157 Sometimes the specification will be lame (consider Version.ToString (fieldCount)
158 where there is no way of knowing how many fields are available, making the API
159 not only stupid, but leading to unreliable code).
161 In those cases, use the keyword "LAMESPEC".
165 Frequently asked questions about the class library:
167 Q: I am writing a new class that overrides one of the system classes,
168 and I am getting a 1595 warning from the compiler. Should we use a
171 A: There is a quick solution to the problem, you can pass the command
172 line argument /nowarn:1595 and this will effectively let you use
173 your implementation of the code, while overriding the ones from the