My Hacktoberfest experience
What I did and what I got to learn from Hacktoberfest 2023
In my second year, like many of my peers, I found myself wondering, “What should I do?”. I was fed up with Data Structures & Algo was on the hunt for opportunities as a computer science student, spending hours scrolling through various platforms, searching for the next step. That’s when I stumbled upon the world of open source contribution. I had read an article about it on Geeks for Geeks, and I was kinda convinced to give it a shot. But the big question was, where should I begin, which organization should I choose, and which repository should I work on?
And this is where Hacktoberfest enters the scene.
Hacktoberfest, organized by DigitalOcean every year throughout October, is a fantastic event that aims to ignite the spirit of open source collaboration around the world. To participate, all you need to do is make four Pull Requests (PRs) from your registered GitHub account. In the past, they used to give out cool t-shirts as rewards, but now, you’ll receive digital goodies like Holopins, and they’ll plant a tree on your behalf (yeh, I felt that too😒).
In my view, Hacktoberfest is the perfect way to start your open source journey. It’s not only beginner-friendly, but it also opens doors to communities with a worldwide reach. Hacktoberfest offers an excellent opportunity to take your first steps in contributing to open source, giving you that initial exposure and confidence to get started.
Starting with Hacktoberfest was a bit nerve-wracking for me because I’d never made a Pull Request (PR) before. But the cool thing about open source is that there are projects for all sorts of people, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer.
Since I’m currently in the process of learning web development, I aimed to contribute to web development projects during Hacktoberfest. I successfully made two contributions to a web development project that my college maintains. In those contributions, I improved the user interface and resolved a bug, making the project even better.
The real challenge came when I decided to create a Playwright test for a webpage in the FreeCodeCamp repository. It was quite a demanding task (for me), but it pushed my skills to the limit, and I learned a lot in the process.
For my final contribution, I resolved a bug in the GitHub Docs repository (this was an easy one). That’s how I made 4 PRs for the Hacktoberfest.
I also tried contributing to other projects, but not all my PRs were accepted. That’s okay; it’s all part of the learning process in open source.
One of the most valuable lessons I gained from Hacktoberfest was the practical application of Git and GitHub. I had watched some videos on how to use them before, but Hacktoberfest gave me the feel of it. It’s one thing to watch, and it’s another to actually do it, and here I got experience.
In a nutshell, Hacktoberfest is an excellent gateway into the world of open source and a fantastic way to gain valuable experience by contributing. If you haven’t joined in this time, be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s Hacktoberfest — you won’t want to miss it!
