Checklist for Code Repositories

This checklist contains points that should be considered for any code repository.

.gitignore file

gitignore.io is a useful resource
ignore .*.sw? for Vim
ignore *~ for Emacs and other text editors
ignore VSCode files
ignore JetBrains editor files

README

exists either in Markdown or RST (RST only interesting for Python projects)

Badge Links

contains link badge to readthedocs
contains link badge to CI results
contains link badge to static code analysis (e.g., Codacy)
contains link badge to coverage information (Codacy and/or(?) Coveralls)
contains link badge to PyPi if applicable
contains link badge to Bioconda if applicable

Sections

<=3 sentence summary on top
summary section
- license information
- language/platform
- link to Bioconda if applicable
- link to any Docker container if applicable
quickstart section
- if feasible: installation, run first example
installation section, or in readthedocs
options/configuration section, or in readthedocs

Continuous Integration

should exist
currently, Github Actions are preferred

Large File Storage

use for any (binary) file above a few kb
can be ignored if in total below 50MB of files that are expected to "never" change

Meta Files

code of conduct, pypa one is reasonable
contributing file, describe branches and pull request targets
GitHub issue templates for bugs and issues, standard ones are a good starting point