# 🤝 Contributing

This course improves the same way software does: people report bugs, propose fixes, and
review each other's changes. **If you're a learner, contributing here can literally be
your first open-source contribution** — Module 08 teaches you everything you need.

## The #1 contribution: report confusion

Our core promise is "confusion is our bug, not yours." Hold us to it.

If any sentence in this course made you feel lost or stupid, please
[open an issue](https://github.com/thetpmguy/software-engineering-the-easy-way/issues/new) and include:

1. **Which file** (paste the link).
2. **Which sentence or section** lost you.
3. If you can: **what you understood it to mean** — this is gold for fixing it.

You don't need to propose a fix. "I didn't get this" is a complete, valuable bug report.

## Other very welcome contributions

- **Better analogies.** If you explained a concept to a friend with an analogy that worked
  better than ours, we want it.
- **Dead links / changed tools.** External sites redesign and links rot. Tell us, or fix
  the link directly with a pull request.
- **Typos and grammar.** A one-character fix is a real contribution (and a great first PR).
- **Glossary gaps.** Found a term we used but never defined? That breaks our own rule —
  report it.
- **Translations.** The most-wanted contribution of all. Open an issue first so we can
  coordinate a `translations/<language>/` folder and avoid duplicate work.
- **New resources.** Free, high-quality, from stable sources, with a one-sentence
  description of what it is and who it's for.

## Ground rules for content (the short version)

All content must follow the [Style Guide](docs/style-guide.md). The essentials:

- Plain English; short sentences; define every term on first use **and** add it to the
  [Glossary](GLOSSARY.md).
- Analogy-first for every abstract idea — and say where the analogy breaks down.
- Never use "simply", "just", "obviously", "clearly", or call anything "easy".
- Labs must be free, browser-based, no-install.
- Warm tone. The reader is smart and busy, not slow.

## How to submit a change

1. **Fork** this repository (Module 08 explains forks).
2. Create a **branch**, make your edit.
3. Open a **pull request** describing *what* you changed and *why*.
4. A maintainer reviews it — expect friendly feedback; that's how code review works.

If those words are new to you: work through
[Module 08 — Git & GitHub](modules/08-git-and-github/README.md) first. Your contribution
will be waiting.

## Code of conduct

One rule: **be the patient friend.** No condescension toward beginners — ever. Questions
that feel "too basic" are exactly the questions this project exists for. Snark toward a
learner is treated more seriously than any technical mistake.