Skip to main content

Contributing

This guide is for contributors who want to improve SparkPlusPlus itself, including the Scala framework, tests, docs site, and release automation.

Areas You Can Contribute To​

  • framework APIs such as SparkApp, config loading, and utilities
  • test coverage for framework and Spark-backed helpers
  • docs and use-case examples
  • build, publishing, and GitHub Actions improvements

Local Setup​

Framework​

Use Java 17 and Maven.

mvn test
mvn package

For Scala 2.13:

mvn test -Pscala-2.13
mvn package -Pscala-2.13

Docs Site​

This repository is the docs site source.

npm install
npm run start

To validate a production build:

npm run build

Contribution Workflow​

  1. Fork or branch from main.
  2. Make focused changes.
  3. Run the relevant local checks.
  4. Open a pull request with a clear summary of behavior changes.

Keep changes narrow when possible. Framework behavior, docs, and release automation can be reviewed faster when they are not mixed into one large PR without a reason.

Testing Expectations​

  • add or update unit tests when framework behavior changes
  • update docs examples when public APIs or config shapes change
  • keep Spark-backed integration tests separate from pure framework tests

In restricted environments, local Spark tests may not run if Spark cannot bind ports. The repo already separates those tests accordingly.

Docs Contributions​

If you change a public API, also update:

  • the main docs under /docs/
  • the use-case examples under /use-cases/ when relevant
  • README examples if they no longer match the framework

CI and Automation​

Current GitHub Actions cover:

  • docs build
  • docs deploy to GitHub Pages

Contributors changing workflows should keep docs and deployment concerns focused on this repository. Framework build and release automation live in the main sparkplusplus repository.

Release and Publishing Notes​

SparkPlusPlus publishes Scala-specific Maven coordinates:

  • sparkplusplus_2.12
  • sparkplusplus_2.13

The repo keeps sparkplusplus_2.12 as the baseline artifact id and switches to sparkplusplus_2.13 only during the release workflow for Scala 2.13 publishing. If you change publishing logic, preserve that behavior unless you intentionally redesign the release model.

For deeper release details, refer to the repository’s dev/ publishing notes.