Starting out in the world of open source can be intimidating, so we've created this repository to guide you through the process and help you make your first contribution. Our goal is to make the process as smooth and easy as possible, so you can gain valuable experience, build your portfolio, and make a meaningful impact on real-world projects.
Inside this repository, you'll find all the resources you need to get started, including step-by-step guides and tutorials, and tips for effective contribution. We've also curated a list of beginner-friendly open source projects that you can contribute to, along with guidelines on how to do so.
While we acknowledge that contributing to open source may feel scary and intimidating at first, rest assured you that the rewards are well worth it. Not only will you gain valuable experience and skills, but you'll also foster a great sense of community and collaboration with other developers who share your passion for coding.
Open source contribution is not only important for the betterment of the technology industry as a whole, but it's also a valuable opportunity for personal and professional growth. By contributing to open source projects, you can build your skills, expand your network, and demonstrate your expertise to potential employers, all while making a positive impact on the world of technology.
Github has a very good summary of why open source contribution is an excellent way to learn and grow as an engineer.
If you don't have git, node, and/or vscode on your machine, here is a helpful tutorial to do so.
To make open source contributions, you’ll need to be comfortable using git.
Git is a tool that is used for all projects on Github (including this one) to make it easier to track changes that are made to a coding project. Tracking changes not only makes it easier for you to manage your own revisions to a project, but it also enables easier collaboration with other people who are simultaneously working on the same project. Tools like git are examples of version control systems.
Version control systems not only let you track your own changes to software, but let you work on your own code independently from other people without affecting their own changes. Once you’ve made your changes, you can request that your changes be made part of the “main” version of the project.
Git link https://www.learnenough.com/git-tutorial#sec-exercises_initializing_the_repo https://www.udemy.com/course/git-complete/
Git docs https://git-scm.com/docs Git jargon
TODO: Add explanations/definitions of all the technical jargon used on this Readme
- Fork
- Clone
- and what is the difference between Fork and Clone/when to use which
- Git
- Branch
- Merge
- “git status”
- “git add”
- “git commit”
- “git push”
- “git pull”
- “git log”
- “git diff”
- SSH
- Repository
- remote
- auth/sign in key (pick auth always)
- Pull request
- ‘git help’ command
Fork this repository by clicking on the fork button on the top of this page. This will create a copy of this repository in your account.
Now clone the forked repository to your machine. Go to your GitHub account, open the forked repository, click on the code button and then click the copy to clipboard icon.
Open a terminal and run the following git command:
git clone https://github.com/TLM-Alumni/getting-started.git
Change to the repository directory on your computer (if you are not already there):
cd getting-started
Now create a branch using the git checkout command:
git checkout -b your-new-branch-name
For example:
git checkout -b carrie-murchison
Now open Contributors.md file in a text editor, add your name to it. Don't add it at the beginning or end of the file. Put it anywhere in between. Now, save the file.
If you go to the project directory and execute the command git status, you'll see there are changes.
Add those changes to the branch you just created using the git add command:
git add Contributors.md
Now commit those changes using the git commit command:
git commit -m "Add <your-name> to Contributors list"
replacing <your-name> with your name.
Before you are able to push your changes you will need to set up an SSH key to authenticate with GitHub. SSH keys allow you to securely connect to GitHub without having to supply your username and password each time.
GitHub has a good step-by-step guide to help you accomplish this. You should only need to set this up once as the SSH key lives on your local machine for this and other projects.
Push your changes using the command git push:
git push origin <add-your-branch-name>
replacing <add-your-branch-name> with the name of the branch you created earlier.
If you go to your repository on GitHub, you'll see a Compare & pull request button. Click on that button.
Now submit the pull request.
Soon I'll be merging all your changes into the master branch of this project. You will get a notification email once the changes have been merged.
Congrats! You just completed the standard fork -> clone -> edit -> pull request workflow that you'll encounter often as a contributor! Feel free to contribute in other areas on this project, right now I am hoping for MERN project to be added that all alumni can contribute to. Now that you are comfortable with the process feel free to "branch" out, and look for any other of the millions of projects on GitHub that you can contribute to.