The process behind Joomla improvements

Joomla is open source software. It is made and supported by a worldwide group of enthusiastic volunteers. Peter Martin will explain, step by step, how this process works – and how you can join. The goal of this session is to give you a clear understanding of how Joomla development works.

What is open source software?

With open source software, the source code is freely available to everyone. You are allowed to use, change, and share Joomla with others. Open source is not always free, but for Joomla you don’t have to pay any license fees.

Joomla is built and managed by volunteers from around the world. There is no company that controls what you can do with it. Everyone can help to make Joomla better – even if you are not a programmer!

The Joomla development process

Before new features or improvements are added to the Joomla core, they must be tested well. First, one automated test must pass. Then, two successful tests by real users are required. After that, the Joomla Release Managers and the CMS Maintenance Team decide if the change will be added, and to which version.

Peter was one of the Release Managers for Joomla 5.2. In this session, he will give you insight into the whole process – from writing and testing code to releasing new versions of Joomla.

• The Joomla development process
  Peter will show how to report bugs, develop new features, write code, test patches, add them to the Joomla core, and how a Joomla release is created.
  
  
• Real-life example: report, fix and test a bug
  Peter found a small bug in Joomla. Together, we will go through the process live:
  • check if it is really a bug
  • report the bug in the issue tracker
  • write and submit a patch (fix)
  • test the patch and report the result
• Git and GitHub
  In Joomla, we use Git for version control and GitHub to store the code and work together. But how do Git and GitHub work? And can you use them for other things than software? (Spoiler: yes – Peter even uses it for his cooking and baking recipes!)

  To explain Git in a simple way, Peter will guide you through a short exercise with a shared shopping list. This helps you understand how version control works – even outside of IT projects.