Want to be a Maatkit hacker? Or, just want to fix one bug? These developer wikis tell you everything you need to know about Maatkit development. There is a lot of information, but how much you need to know depends on what you want to develop. Therefore the information is broken into sections for your convenience.

Everyone should begin by reading Getting Started.

Once your system is setup, you can decide which wikis are relevant to what you want to accomplish as a Maatkit developer. It seems to me that there are roughly four levels of involvement:

1. Find bugs but not fix them
2. Fix isolated, clearly defined bugs
3. Fix systemic bugs and enhance or add new features
4. Create and disseminate new tools

Here's the suggested reading for each of these levels:

Level 1: Find bugs but not fix them

• Getting Started
• Code Overview

Level 2: Fix isolated, clearly defined bugs

• All Level 1 reading
• Testing
• Branch Management
• Coding Standards
• Coding Conventions
• Fixing Bugs

Level 3: Fix systemic bugs and enhance or add new features

• All Level 2 reading
• Documenting Code
• Enhancing Tools

Level 4: Create and disseminate new tools

• All level 3 reading
• Assembling Tools
• Release Instructions
• Developer Utilities
• Read everything else (all wikis, all tools' POD, etc.)
• Talk frequently with me and Baron via the discussion list or #maatkit on Freenode IRC

"How much Perl do I need to know?" you may ask. That depends on what you want to develop, too. A basic, perhaps even non-Perl-related, knowledge of programming is required for finding bugs (level 1); an advanced knowledge of Perl will be very helpful to develop new features (level 3). Don't worry if Perl isn't your strongest programming language. We're not code snobs; we appreciate any work done carefully and thoughtfully to the best of one's ability.

We hope you'll contribute to Maatkit and we thank you in advance for all your work!