3 Reasons Why I Will Always Contribute to Open Source Projects

Haley Mesander
Sep 5, 2018 · 3 min read
“grayscale photo of person using MacBook” by Sergey Zolkin on Unsplash

Recently, I contributed for the first time to an open-source project. In the last stretch of the Turing School curriculum, all students are encouraged to select a project of interest and dive-in head-first into the code base. As a former educator, I immediately began looking for EdTech projects and found Quill — a set of interactive tools designed to help students become better writers.

I was able to make a (very small) contribution to the project, but, more importantly, I was hooked on the idea of continuing to contribute to these kinds of projects as my skills grow. Here’s 3 reasons why.

1: It’s good to be humbled.

“girl walking towards the sea” by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash

For me, approaching a large code base for the first time is akin to the wonderment that a small child feels upon seeing the ocean for the first time. The code is mysterious, with many secrets that lie just under its surface. It’s incredibly humbling to stand at the edge of a large project, aware that you will most likely never fully understand every line of code but also excited about dipping your toes in the water.

2: Learning with a Goal in Mind.

“gray arrow left sign” by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash

I’m the kind of person who learns best when I get my hands dirty. Don’t give me a tutorial. Give me a job to do. With open-source projects, there are always issues I can pick up to get me quickly interacting with the code base. As I wrestle with the problem at hand, I can begin to understand the architecture of the project and how my small piece fits in the larger puzzle. I also learn the value of minimizing tech debt as I build upon the code of previous developers.

3: It’s all about Community.

“three person pointing the silver laptop computer” by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

I can do what I love — building tech products that add value to the world — surrounded by a larger community of developers who also love coding enough to do it for free. It is okay (and at times encouraged) to publish unpolished code and iterate multiple times, gaining feedback from other developers throughout the process. Open source allows me to make connections far outside my normal circle of friends and co-workers.

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