Beginning My Open Source Journey

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first blog post!

My name is Peter Wan, and you can find me on GitHub as peterdanwan.

I am currently a student at Seneca Polytechnic, where I am studying Computer Science in the Computer Programming & Analysis (CPA) program. This is my final semester, and I'm thrilled to be taking what I believe is the most exciting course in the program: Open Source Development.

Table of Contents

1. Why am I Interested in Open Source Development?
2. What I Hope to Accomplish This Semester
3. Finding a trending GitHub Repository to contribute to
4. Conclusion

1. Why am I Interested in Open Source Development?

I chose to learn more about Open Source Development because I believe it will help me learn how to:

• Navigate and interpret large codebases: Open source projects often have extensive and complex code, and learning how to find relevant information and use this information effectively is an invaluable skill.
• Communicate effectively: Open source development isn't just about writing code; it’s also about communicating your ideas clearly, providing feedback, and collaborating to find solutions with other individuals.
• Master Git and GitHub: Open source projects rely heavily on these tools, and I’m eager to deepen my understanding of version control and become proficient in using Git and GitHub for real-world projects.

Open source development is not just about coding; it's about collaboration, community, and contributing to something bigger than oneself. It's an opportunity to learn from others, share knowledge, and collectively build meaningful software.

2. What I Hope to Accomplish This Semester

This term, I hope to immerse myself in the world of open source and become an effective contributor to various projects. I am particularly interested in working on tools that enhance the developer experience.

Many open source tools have already improved my daily workflow as a developer, and I’d love to contribute to projects like these. Here are a few that stand out to me:

1. Visual Studio Code: This is my text editor of choice. It's open-source, widely adopted, and highly customizable through a myriad of extensions, all of which are open-source themselves.
2. Fish shell: While not POSIX compliant, Fish provides a more user-friendly and modern terminal experience, featuring syntax highlighting and a more readable syntax compared to Bash or PowerShell.
3. Git: I'm excited to improve my Git skills. Using Git effectively is crucial for collaborating on open source projects, and I want to become more proficient in managing branches, resolving conflicts, and contributing to repositories.

By contributing to open source, I aim to build my skills in collaborative development and learn the open source workflow—from understanding complex codebases to making meaningful contributions.

3. Finding a trending GitHub Repository to contribute to

While browsing trending repositories on GitHub, I discovered trekhleb's javascript-algorithms repository. This repository focuses on helping new developers learn and implement algorithms, serving as an educational resource rather than a traditional software product. I find this approach appealing, as it aligns with my desire to contribute to projects that empower others to learn and grow.

In addition to contributing to the javascript-algorithms repository, I’m also interested in seeing if I can contribute to some of the tools I mentioned earlier, like Visual Studio Code and the fish shell.

4. Conclusion

Overall, I'm excited to dive into the world of open source, to use git and GitHub as my primary tools for collaboration, and to start making contributions that can help others. This journey is just beginning, and I can't wait to see where it takes me!

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