---
# System prepended metadata

title: 'PlasmaPy Community Meeting | Tuesday 2021 March 16 at 18:00 UT'
tags: [community, ' minutes']

---

---
tags: community, minutes
---

# PlasmaPy Community Meeting | Tuesday 2021 March 16 at 18:00 UT

[![hackmd-github-sync-badge](https://hackmd.io/y3davOJCR36wJMaQx2uiBg/badge)](https://hackmd.io/y3davOJCR36wJMaQx2uiBg)


### Video Conference Information
* [Jitsi video conference link](https://meet.jit.si/plasmapy) with [call-in information](https://meet.jit.si/static/dialInInfo.html?room=plasmapy) 
* Instant messaging: [Matrix](https://app.element.io/#/room/#plasmapy:openastronomy.org) and [Gitter](https://gitter.im/PlasmaPy/Lobby)
* [GitHub Minutes Repository](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy-project/tree/master/minutes)
    * ["Community" Sub-directory](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy-project/tree/master/minutes/_community)
* [PlasmaPy on GitHub](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy) ([pull requests](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy/pulls), [issues](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/plasmapy/issues))
* [PlasmaPy Enhancement Proposals on GitHub](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy-PLEPs) 
* [PlasmaPy Google Calendar](https://calendar.google.com/calendar?cid=bzVsb3ZkcW0zaWxsam00ZTlrMDd2cmw5bWdAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ)

## Agenda (please feel free to edit or add items)

1. Introductions
2. 10-15 minutes for roadmap
    * drafting [roadmap](https://hackmd.io/@plasmapy/ry0mmnj6v/edit)
3. solicit "Project Issues"
    * Need to add Distribution overhaul
    * Particle factory (issue [687](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/issues/687)) **??**
4. v0.6.0 Released!
    * **Congrats to all!!**
    * What are the lessons learned from this release?
    * Posting "what's new" on plasmapy.org (for both v0.5.0 and v0.6.0)
5. GitHub Actions for issue/PR labeling and adding to projects
    * [PR #1080](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1080): labeling based on where contributed code exists
5. [Dominik] black magic - WIP notebook
6. [Status] Hackathon
7. [Status] On Q1 Goals
    1. Simulation
    2. Analysis and Diagnostic
    3. Transport
    4. ParticleTracker
    5. Dispersion
13. ...
14. Issues
    1. [#1053](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/issues/1053): Ionization naming
    2. [#1078](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/issues/1078): Add a feature freeze to release schedule
    3. ...
15. Pull requests in progress 
    1. [PR 923](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/923): Test Helper #4
    2.  [PR 974](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/974): Thomson Scattering fitting
    3. [PR 978](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/978): nuclear cross-sections & rates
    4. [PR 979](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/979): Relativistic Boris Pusher
    5. [PR 1000](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1000): Paschen Curve
    6. ~~[PR 1033](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1033): `@particle_input` with CustomParticle~~  (closed)
16. Pull requests MERGED
    1. [PR 1046](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1046): IonicFraction refactor
    2. [PR 1049](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/1049): Proton radiography with mesh grids
    
## Attendees

* Erik
* Nick
* Dominik

## Action Items

***Erik***
> ***Continuation***
> * Open "Project Issue" on the distribution functions
> * refine roadmap for next weeks discussion
> * add OMFIT to affiliated pkgs
* Keep reviewing [PR 1000]
    * waiting on refactor before adding RTD stuff
* determine status for Khalil's old PRs
* open an Issue for a lexicon of formulary parameters...physical parameter being represented, parameter symbol, docstring description

***Dominik***
> ***Continuation***
> * add feedback to roadmap items "Transport" and "Particle Tracker"
> * Write tests, check formula for [PR 979](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/979) - "Relativistic Boris Pusher"
>    * started on this
> * PR on `plasmapy.plasma.geometry` for [exact Solov'ev equlibrium with an arbitrary boundary](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1908.04449.pdf)
* Investigate GitHub Actions new contributor bot for automatically adding comments for new contributors adding a PR (or the like).
    * message to users that checks don't need to pass right away (we'll work together to get things refined)
    * how to run pre-commit `isort` and `black`
* Review [PR 923](https://github.com/PlasmaPy/PlasmaPy/pull/923)

***Nick***
> ***Continuation***
> * add feedback to roadmap items "Workshop" and "Simulations"
* put some effort towards the dev guide
* review PR 1040
* Take back up forming simulation working group

## Minutes

* Lesson's learned from release
    * Having a schedule and a plan is awesome!!!
    * When a release is brought to our attention, we should game plan what needs to happen (e.g. last PRs)
    * Possible workflow for a future release
        * utilize milestone to keep track of all issues and PRs
        * open a Summary issue outlining what needs to be done (including items not associated with an issue or PR)...this summary issue gets updated as work progresses
    * All agree on a feature freeze for the week of the release
    * Have a code freeze for 2-3 days before the release...only release PRs go thru during that time
    * Modifying old change log entries
        * this could result in massive review and modification before a release
        * a select set of change logs may benefit from this though
    * More automation of release
        * adding new contributors (currently manual)
        * orcids, affiliations, github nicknames
    * Create multiple change log entries for a PR for grouping like changes
        * `doc` for documentation, `feature` for features, etc.
        * if multiple features one could do `feature.1.rst`, `feature.2.rst`, etc.
* Like Python doc, add to the feature doc when it changed (i.e. first released, types of modifications, etc.)
    * How do we implement something like this?
* https://xkcd.com/2425/
* How to remind for an upcoming release
    * tickets thru a project manager like ZenHub
    * https://github.com/probot/reminders
* GitHub automation
    * directing certain reviews based on the type of PR
    * CODEOWNERS file
        * similar automation: if file is modified in pr, ask person/group of people to review
            * draft in neoclassics branch https://github.com/StanczakDominik/PlasmaPy/blob/3b604259bb3f8e3e1a4e54df8621fb6b267e77e2/CODEOWNERS
* #789 requirements file
    * [Dominik] takes over
    * I'd like to orginized the requiremnts like I did for `bapsflib` https://github.com/BaPSF/bapsflib
* dynamic method generation for Plasma classes
    * use inspect submodule of stdlib
    * [Dominik] will probably do PDD on this and have a prototype sooner than reasonably should given other commitments
* https://github.com/google/jax
    * numpy style api + static compilation + vectorization + autodiff
    * [Dominik] will try to rewrite particletracker using this
    * might be the next `numba` but better
