How Junior Developers Can Contribute to Open Source Projects
It's never been easy to learn programming. But despite tons of ways to learn how to code, we believe that the best way to improve your skills is by contributing to open source projects.
The open source community provides a great opportunity for aspiring programmers to distinguish themselves; and by contributing to open source ruby projects, developers can improve their skills and get inspiration and support from like-minded people. But most importantly, they can prove that they can build fantastic experiences that people love.
Previously, we have discussed why open source is good for your business . In this article, we'll explain why you should contribute to open source projects, how to contribute, and what projects to choose. This article is geared towards developers who are just starting their career and would like to get involved with the open source community (and maybe become a coding genius).
Why contribute to open source projects?
There are a number of reasons to contribute to open source projects. Let's see what motivates developers to contribute.
First, there are a lot of enthusiasts who simply believe that code should be open. They're idealists who want to make the world a better place, and it drives them to contribute code. The desire to share can be a powerful motivator.
Second, open source projects give you a great start. Beginners might start by fixing minor things, such as a bug in a library, sending a pull request, or even writing a piece of documentation. However, beginner developers can also learn to write so-called "clean code" – code that is readable and maintainable – while contributing to open source projects. When developers realize that their code is exposed to the world, it makes them focus on making that code easy to understand and support. Programmers stick to generally accepted rules within a team, which include norms for indents, descriptions of methods and classes, variable names, and following the don't-repeat-yourself rule. In a nutshell, when contributing to open source projects you're obliged to conform to the norms of a project.
Third, you get the chance to be part of an active open source community where you can meet like-minded people and supporters. Moreover, if you're a freelancer and actively contribute to open source projects, you increase your chances of being noticed by potential employers.
The main reasons why developers go open source are to be recognized, to sharpen their programming skills, and to become part of the vibrant open source community. Now let's look at what you should consider before you start contributing.
What to consider before you go open source
Okay, so you can't wait to start your first open source project. Let's go through a few tips that might help you choose what to work on.
Programming language
The most fundamental technology behind any application is a programming language. The most popular languages on GitHub (a collaborative code hosting platform) are JavaScript, Python, Java, Ruby, and PHP. There are a multitude of projects that might suit your skills and taste.
Type of project
After you've chosen the language you want to work in, you need to choose the type of project you prefer. Github projects are categorized into folders called Showcases. Here are some examples of Showcases: "security", "virtual reality", "text editors", and "CSS preprocessors." Just choose a topic that interests you.
However, we do recommend paying extra attention to those projects that would be used by broad spectrum of people so you'll have the chance to test your code on a large real-world audience. For example, the "Emoji" Showcase contains 25 repositories that represent its popularity. Another tip on how to choose an open source project is to start working on software you already use or software you're interested in using. This will keep you motivated to keep on working.
Project volume
Large software projects like VLC Media Player or Spree – with thousands lines of code – aren't the best choice for a beginner. When you contribute to open source projects of this scale, you're expected to meet the established requirements within that team. A here's another small tip: pay attention to issue labels. Some issues are labeled as "first-timers-only", "beginner", "easy", and so on. You can also find a list on Github with collections of projects that suit newcomers.
Consider these tips when choosing a project to contribute to. And always remember to choose software you're interested in and allocate time in advance.
Originally published here https://rubygarage.org/blog/how-contribute-to-open-source-projects
