Experiencing Google Summer of Code 2017

Myroslava
Myroslava
Aug 28, 2017 · 3 min read

So.

Here we go.

I started this blog to write about my Google Summer of Code progress a few months ago, and now the last coding phase of the GSoC 2017 is coming to an end. And yet, I am going to be continuing writing this blog, both to keep you updated about what I’m doing in Pharo (there’s still a lot to do as this is just the beginning), and to be able to share other programming or university related things with you.

Google Summer of Code is an opportunity I didn’t imagine I would have after just finishing my first year of Bachelor’s in Computer Science in the beautiful city of Lviv. As a whole, it’s been a great year, full of acquiring new skills and connections, as well as pushing myself out of my comfort zone. And Google Summer of Code has been all of the above, too.

Having come through this long and exciting journey, I am still relatively new to Pharo. I have been learning new things and learning how to learn new things throughout the whole coding process, and I am still fascinated by how different Pharo is to everything I have worked with before, and everything I am going to work with after. I have to admit though, it has and still is very difficult. This summer, my first summer as a university and not a high school student, was full of various academic commitments, exams, both computer science and non-computer science related summer schools, and a hell of a lot of coding. But here I am, and every single decision I made this summer took me to this point. Successful or not, I have learned a lot. Besides, as I already mentioned, I have gotten quite involved with my project, so even after Google Summer of Code officially ends I am still going to be working on it and trying to finish everything I didn’t manage to.

But that is also the whole point of this programme, isn’t it? To not just give university students an opportunity to work on a real project and get first-hand experience in actually contributing to something that makes a difference, but also to get participants interested enough for them to keep working on it long after the official part is done. And talking to other students, that is exactly how we all feel about it, and that’s exactly what we are going to do.

For students who are thinking of applying for being a GSoC student but are still doubting themselves — do not doubt. Just apply. You can do it. And don’t hesitate to ask me questions, if you have any.

As for the Pharo community… Thanks for the opportunity, for your help, inspirational comments, and the time you took to get familiar with my work (proposal, blogs, tweets, github commits etc). I am grateful.

I will be back with more posts when I have had a bit of a rest (namely blog posts about integrating the updated rules into Pharo 7, and my continued work on the Match Rewrite Tool).

Until then, I remain very truly yours,

— M

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Myroslava

Written by

Myroslava

4th year CS student. i do stuff in pharo smalltalk, watch political satire & care about the environment. blog posts are about my work and other related things.

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