From 4b44282a18dec70a3d15589c2bcd97577fe66c9b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Matt Topol <zotthewizard@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2024 10:55:50 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] GH-20: Add CONTRIBUTING.md (#162)

Fixes #20
---
 CONTRIBUTING.md | 70 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 70 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 CONTRIBUTING.md

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0b79fa54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+<!---
+  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+  or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+  distributed with this work for additional information
+  regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+  to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+  "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+  with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+  software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+  "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+  KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+  specific language governing permissions and limitations
+  under the License.
+-->
+
+# How to contribute to Apache Arrow Go
+
+We utilize [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/) for our commit messages. This helps maintain the semantic 
+versioning of this module. 
+
+Please use the following commit types: `build`, `chore`, `ci`, `docs`, 
+`feat`, `fix`, `perf`, `refactor`, `revert`, `style`, `test`.
+
+For PRs with changes entirely within a single sub-package, please use
+a scope that references that package such as `arrow/flight` or 
+`parquet/pqarrow`. For more general PRs, a top level scope should be
+sufficient.
+
+For example:
+
+```
+fix(arrow/cdata): handle empty structs in C data interface
+
+ci: update CI environment
+
+feat(parquet): support new encoding type
+```
+
+## Did you find a bug?
+
+The Arrow project uses GitHub as a bug tracker.  To report a bug, sign in 
+to your GitHub account, navigate to [GitHub issues](https://github.com/apache/arrow-go/issues) and click on **New issue** .
+
+To be assigned to an issue, add a comment "take" to that issue.
+
+Before you create a new bug entry, we recommend you first search among 
+existing Arrow issues in [GitHub](https://github.com/apache/arrow-go/issues).
+
+## Did you write a patch that fixes a bug or brings an improvement?
+
+If there is a corresponding issue for your patch, please make sure to 
+[reference the issue](https://docs.github.com/en/issues/tracking-your-work-with-issues/using-issues/linking-a-pull-request-to-an-issue#linking-a-pull-request-to-an-issue-using-a-keyword) in your PR description.
+
+## Do you want to propose a significant new feature or an important refactoring?
+
+We ask that all discussions about major changes in the codebase happen
+publicly on the [arrow-dev mailing-list](https://arrow.apache.org/community/#mailing-lists).
+
+## Do you have questions about the source code, the build procedure or the development process?
+
+You can also ask on the mailing-list, see above.
+
+## Further information
+
+Please read our [development documentation](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/developers/index.html)
+or look through the [New Contributor's Guide](https://arrow.apache.org/docs/developers/guide/index.html).