Cleanup docs, update gitignore

.gitignore

@@ -1,10 +1,171 @@
-*.bash.txt
-*.sh.txt
-*.pl.txt
-*~
-*.iml
-**/*.iml
-.idea
-*.env
-*.zip
-**/__pycache__
+# Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*$py.class
+
+# C extensions
+*.so
+
+# Distribution / packaging
+.Python
+build/
+develop-eggs/
+dist/
+downloads/
+eggs/
+.eggs/
+lib/
+lib64/
+parts/
+sdist/
+var/
+wheels/
+share/python-wheels/
+*.egg-info/
+.installed.cfg
+*.egg
+MANIFEST
+
+# PyInstaller
+#  Usually these files are written by a python script from a template
+#  before PyInstaller builds the exe, so as to inject date/other infos into it.
+*.manifest
+*.spec
+
+# Installer logs
+pip-log.txt
+pip-delete-this-directory.txt
+
+# Unit test / coverage reports
+htmlcov/
+.tox/
+.nox/
+.coverage
+.coverage.*
+.cache
+nosetests.xml
+coverage.xml
+*.cover
+*.py,cover
+.hypothesis/
+.pytest_cache/
+cover/
+
+# Translations
+*.mo
+*.pot
+
+# Django stuff:
+*.log
+local_settings.py
+db.sqlite3
+db.sqlite3-journal
+
+# Flask stuff:
+instance/
+.webassets-cache
+
+# Scrapy stuff:
+.scrapy
+
+# Sphinx documentation
+docs/_build/
+
+# PyBuilder
+.pybuilder/
+target/
+
+# Jupyter Notebook
+.ipynb_checkpoints
+
+# IPython
+profile_default/
+ipython_config.py
+
+# pyenv
+#   For a library or package, you might want to ignore these files since the code is
+#   intended to run in multiple environments; otherwise, check them in:
+# .python-version
+
+# pipenv
+#   According to pypa/pipenv#598, it is recommended to include Pipfile.lock in version control.
+#   However, in case of collaboration, if having platform-specific dependencies or dependencies
+#   having no cross-platform support, pipenv may install dependencies that don't work, or not
+#   install all needed dependencies.
+#Pipfile.lock
+
+# UV
+#   Similar to Pipfile.lock, it is generally recommended to include uv.lock in version control.
+#   This is especially recommended for binary packages to ensure reproducibility, and is more
+#   commonly ignored for libraries.
+#uv.lock
+
+# poetry
+#   Similar to Pipfile.lock, it is generally recommended to include poetry.lock in version control.
+#   This is especially recommended for binary packages to ensure reproducibility, and is more
+#   commonly ignored for libraries.
+#   https://python-poetry.org/docs/basic-usage/#commit-your-poetrylock-file-to-version-control
+#poetry.lock
+
+# pdm
+#   Similar to Pipfile.lock, it is generally recommended to include pdm.lock in version control.
+#pdm.lock
+#   pdm stores project-wide configurations in .pdm.toml, but it is recommended to not include it
+#   in version control.
+#   https://pdm.fming.dev/latest/usage/project/#working-with-version-control
+.pdm.toml
+.pdm-python
+.pdm-build/
+
+# PEP 582; used by e.g. github.com/David-OConnor/pyflow and github.com/pdm-project/pdm
+__pypackages__/
+
+# Celery stuff
+celerybeat-schedule
+celerybeat.pid
+
+# SageMath parsed files
+*.sage.py
+
+# Environments
+.env
+.venv
+env/
+venv/
+ENV/
+env.bak/
+venv.bak/
+
+# Spyder project settings
+.spyderproject
+.spyproject
+
+# Rope project settings
+.ropeproject
+
+# mkdocs documentation
+/site
+
+# mypy
+.mypy_cache/
+.dmypy.json
+dmypy.json
+
+# Pyre type checker
+.pyre/
+
+# pytype static type analyzer
+.pytype/
+
+# Cython debug symbols
+cython_debug/
+
+# PyCharm
+#  JetBrains specific template is maintained in a separate JetBrains.gitignore that can
+#  be found at https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/main/Global/JetBrains.gitignore
+#  and can be added to the global gitignore or merged into this file.  For a more nuclear
+#  option (not recommended) you can uncomment the following to ignore the entire idea folder.
+#.idea/
+
+# PyPI configuration file
+.pypirc

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ For developer environment setup, please first follow the steps outlined in [here
 
 To avoid the headache of updating your PR and enable minimal back-and-forth, this project supports the same GitHub Actions-based automated code linting checks locally through Git pre-commit hooks. **We strongly encourage configuring pre-commit hooks before submitting a PR**, as passing automated code linting is a requirement for submission review.
 
-If you haven't used Git pre-commit hooks before, pre-commit Git hooks are programs run locally *on commit*. This project uses the pre-commit hooks (using `pre-commit`) to run automated code linting locally, either on commit or manually by running `pre-commit run` (after setup). Pre-commit hooks can be useful for much more than automated code linting, though. Please review the `pre-commit` documentation [here](https://pre-commit.com/) for more information on pre-commit hooks as well as the `pre-commit` tool supported by this project.
+If you haven't used Git pre-commit hooks before, pre-commit Git hooks are programs run locally _on commit_. This project uses the pre-commit hooks (using `pre-commit`) to run automated code linting locally, either on commit or manually by running `pre-commit run` (after setup). Pre-commit hooks can be useful for much more than automated code linting, though. Please review the `pre-commit` documentation [here](https://pre-commit.com/) for more information on pre-commit hooks as well as the `pre-commit` tool supported by this project.
 
 ### Setup
 
@@ -34,39 +34,41 @@ To configure Git pre-commit hooks, run the following steps (assumes already setu
 
 1. **Activate virtual environment**
 
-    Virtual environment setup steps are outlined in the developer environment setup instructions [here](./py-scripts/README.md#cloning-from-git-repository-usage).
+   Virtual environment setup steps are outlined in the developer environment setup instructions [here](./py-scripts/README.md#cloning-from-git-repository-usage).
 
-    Virtual environments are always a good idea for a new project, helping keep separate project
-    dependencies separate from each other. You can keep using this virtual environment for other dependencies of this project as well.
+   Virtual environments are always a good idea for a new project, helping keep separate project
+   dependencies separate from each other. You can keep using this virtual environment for other dependencies of this project as well.
 
-    ```Bash
-    # Substitute the path to your virtual environment here
-    # This is likely to be something in the form of 'x/bin/activate'
-    source venv/bin/activate
-    ```
+   ```Bash
+   # Substitute the path to your virtual environment here
+   # This is likely to be something in the form of 'x/bin/activate'
+   source venv/bin/activate
+   ```
 
 2. **Install the 'pre-commit' package**
-    ```Bash
-    pip install --upgrade pip && pip install pre-commit
-    ```
+
+   ```Bash
+   pip install --upgrade pip && pip install pre-commit
+   ```
 
 3. **Configure this project's pre-commit hooks**
-    ```Bash
-    # The pre-commit configuration contains all required
-    # pre-commit hook tool installation required to setup
-    # local code linting tooling (flake8, black, etc.)
-    pre-commit install
-    ```
+
+   ```Bash
+   # The pre-commit configuration contains all required
+   # pre-commit hook tool installation required to setup
+   # local code linting tooling (flake8, black, etc.)
+   pre-commit install
+   ```
 
 4. **Run the pre-commit hook before it runs on commit**
-    ```Bash
-    # Without staged any changes, this command will simply skip every
-    # pre-commit step. However, it is still useful for visualizing
-    # the process.
-    #
-    # The same steps will run when you enter 'git commit'
-    pre-commit run
-    ```
+   ```Bash
+   # Without staged any changes, this command will simply skip every
+   # pre-commit step. However, it is still useful for visualizing
+   # the process.
+   #
+   # The same steps will run when you enter 'git commit'
+   pre-commit run
+   ```
 
 ### Unable to Commit Due to `pre-commit` Failure