3.9. Make Changes To The Wireshark Sources
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## 3.9. Make Changes To The Wireshark Sources

There are several reasons why you might want to change Wireshark’s sources:

- Add support for a new protocol (i.e., add a new dissector)
- Change or extend an existing dissector
- Fix a bug
- Implement a glorious new feature

Wireshark’s developers work on a variety of different platforms and use a variety of different development environments. Although we don’t enforce or recommend a particular environment, your editor should support EditorConfig in order to make sure you pick up the correct indentation style for any files that you might edit.

The internal structure of the Wireshark sources are described in Part II, “Wireshark Development”.

| Ask the wireshark-dev[AT]wireshark.org mailing list before you start a new development task.
If you have an idea what you want to add or change it’s a good idea to contact the developer mailing list (see Section 1.7.6, “Mailing Lists”) and explain your idea. Someone else might already be working on the same topic, so a duplicated effort can be reduced. Someone might also give you tips that should be thought about (like side effects that are sometimes very hard to see).

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