Week 5

Projects that I am interested in contributing to

After doing some research, these are the open source projects I want to contribute to:

  • iD, the OpenStreetMap JavaScript editor (GitHub link here)
  • freeCodeCamp.org’s open source codebase (GitHub link here)

I chose the first option (iD) because I have worked with JavaScript before, but only on a medium sized project, and I want to improve my JS skills on a large project. In addition, iD is a part of OpenStreetMap, which I think is a great open source/data project.

My second choice is freeCodeCamp, and I think this is the perfect open source project for me to contribute to. I’ve always loved helping other people with learning things like math and coding, and the whole purpose of freeCodeCamp is to teach people how to code. I looked around the issues in freeCodeCamp’s GitHub repo, and most of them involve creating practice problems and examples of algorithms in various languages, including C++, Python, and Java (all of which I have experience in). By contributing to freeCodeCamp, not only will I be helping others learn to code, but I will also be brushing up on my own coding and programming skills in various different programming languages (win-win for everyone!).

Friday, February 22

We had our first quiz today on open source concepts (like the four freedoms) and basic Git commands. We then discussed the Open Source NYC project and meetup, and finally we started work on a short project evaluation activity (specifically, we each chose a project to work on in groups of 3 or more people).

Tuesday, February 26

Christos Bacharakis from Mozilla visited the class today, and he gave a presentation about open source, makers, university students, businesses, design, and technology in general. We discussed how open source is the engine that powers innovation and Mozilla’s efforts for keeping the web open and accessible to everyone. We also found out how open source can help us advance our skills, get experience in the areas we are interested in, and thrive as members of open source communities.

Contributions

I reported an issue on a classmate’s GitHub blog repository:

  • gsvetleen’s blog (see the blog here)
    • The blog site does not work (see the issue here)
Written before or on March 1, 2019