Introduction

This is the developer manual. Please first have a look at the user manual .

Plumed 2 is written in C++ and uses many of the advanced, object-oriented features of this language. This structure makes the implementation of collective coordinates and free energy methods straightforward. In fact, it should be possible to implement methods and collective coordinates (CV) by creating a single file and without touching any other part of the code. Furthermore, to implement new methodology does not require one to be some sort of C++ wizard. Rather, the code has been specifically redesigned to make the implementation of new CVs and new free energy methods straightforward so as to encourage people to implement whatever new functionality they require. This document serves then to provide an introduction as to how to go about implementing new functionality in plumed. A good starting point is Base classes for CVs, functions, biases, etc. as this page contains links to parts of the manual where you can find information on how to go about implementing CV, functions and biases. Another useful page is the Tool Box page, which contains information on the many reusable objects that have been implemented in plumed.

If you want to understand a little more about the code and the way that we use the various features of C++ before you start then we describe this briefly here:

A brief introduction to the plumed core

And finally, for the developers of MD codes, we provide information as to how to incorporate plumed into your codes here:

How to add plumed to an MD code

If you would like to contribute new functionalities to PLUMED please read the following guidance:

How to contribute new functionality to PLUMED

We ask that contributors endeavor to maintain the portability of plumed by, as much as possible, using only the STL library and lapack in modifications.
If you need to use any less standard library (e.g. Boost, Sockets) please ensure that your functionality is not installed during a default compilation.
However, do feel free to provide alternative compilation options that incorporate your functionality.

Information about C++ http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/

Code Coverage

This manual might also contain a detailed analysis of which parts of the PLUMED code have been tested when compiling it. In case so, you will find it at this link . If this manual was compiled on Travis-CI, notice that as of PLUMED 2.5 the coverage scan ends up on a separate repository named github.com/plumed/coverage-branchname.