Merge pull request #8 from IBM/contrib

add contributing file

Author: geoghegk

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# Contributing Guidelines
+
+Thank you for considering a contribution to app-mod-sample! Please read the guidelines carefully.
+
+## Contributing prerequisites (CLA/DCO)
+
+The project does not yet define a Contributor License Agreement. By submitting pull requests submitters acknowledge they grant the [Apache License v2](./LICENSE) to the code and that they are eligible to grant this license for all commits submitted in their pull requests.
+
+## Getting Started
+
+The `main` branch on this repository contains a traditional IBM WebSphere Application Server version of the application. All contributions to the `main` branch must be compatible with the application being deployed on IBM WebSphere Application Server 9 and using Java 8.
+
+The `liberty-java8` branch shows what the application looks like after modernizing to Liberty. 
+
+The `liberty-java21` branch shows what the application looks like after modernizing to Liberty **AND** upgrading Java to Java 21.
+
+The `liberty-` branches must be kept consistent with the main branch. We want the branches to always reflect different stages of the modernization process.
+
+
+## Writing Pull Requests
+
+Contributions can be submitted by creating a pull request on Github.
+We recommend you do the following to ensure the maintainers can collaborate on your contribution:
+
+- Fork the project into your personal Github account
+- Create a new feature branch for your contribution
+- Make your changes
+- Open a PR with a clear description
+
+Contributors must include a Signed-off-by line in their commit message, to avoid having PRs blocked. Always include an email address that matches the
+commit author. For example:
+
+```
+feat: this is my commit message
+
+Signed-off-by: Author Name <authoremail@example.com>
+```
+
+You can also do this automatically with `git`, by using the -s flag:
+
+```
+$ git commit -s -m 'This is my commit message'
+```
+
+## Code review process
+
+Once your pull request is submitted, a Project maintainer should be assigned to review your changes.
+
+The code review should cover:
+
+Contributors are expected to respond to feedback from reviewers in a constructive manner.
+Reviewers are expected to respond to new submissions in a timely fashion, with clear language if changes are requested.
+
+Once the pull request is approved, it will get merged.