Contributing

flowchart LR
  accTitle: Contribution and documentation validation pipeline
  accDescr: Update source and documentation together, add boundary-focused tests, run language tests and the book validator, build the site strictly, review the rendered result, then commit and deploy only when every gate passes.
  subgraph P["Prepare"]
    direction TB
    A["Change algorithm<br/>and explanation together"] --> B["Update Python and C++<br/>plus boundary tests"]
  end
  subgraph V["Verify"]
    direction TB
    C["Run language tests"] --> D["Run book validator<br/>and strict site build"]
    D --> E["Review rendered page<br/>wide and narrow"]
  end
  subgraph R["Release gate"]
    direction TB
    F{"Every gate passes?"} -->|"yes"| G["Commit and deploy"]
    F -->|"no"| H["Fix the failed gate<br/>then repeat verification"]
  end
  B --> C
  E --> F

Treat the diagram as a set of release gates. A correct algorithm with a stale explanation—or a polished page with untested code—is not complete.

Content change

1. Edit the relevant docs/chapter_* page.
2. State the selection signal, invariant, complexity, and boundary cases.
3. Link to executable code rather than embedding an untested duplicate.
4. Run the strict MkDocs build and book validator.

Algorithm change

1. Update Python and/or C++ source under codes/.
2. Add a normal, boundary, and regression test.
3. Keep public names descriptive and avoid LeetCode-specific wrapper classes in the reusable library.
4. Update the chapter when the contract or complexity changes.

New chapter

Every chapter needs YAML front matter with a description, a single h1, and a navigation entry in mkdocs.yml. Prefer one complete chapter over many shallow pages.

Quality bar

• Examples compile or import.
• Preconditions are explicit.
• Numeric ranges are safe.
• The invariant matches the implementation.
• Complexity includes auxiliary and recursion space.
• Local links resolve.
• Generated output is not committed.