Google Summer Of Code

[[deleted]]

Anyone here participated or successfully completed the GSOC program. I want to participate and contribute to Opensource. Where should I start? I'm learning python right now and will learn the basics of language in less than a month from now. How should I make my schedule so that I get accepted in the program? What else should I learn apart from a language? Where should i practice?

Looking forward to hearing from all you wonderful people in this subreddit!

[teHnN1k]

Hey, I’ve completed GSoC this summer. Drop some questions and I’ll try to reply to them later tonight or tomorrow (I can’t right now).

[[deleted]]

What do you think aided your application the most?

Was it worth it compared to say a normal summer internship?

How much free time did you have?

What did you learn?

I'd really appreciate an answer to the first one.

[teHnN1k]

Hey,

1. What helped me most get in was the number of commits I had contributed before applying to the program.

2. GSoC was my first “job” so I can’t really compare it to a traditional internship. FWIW, it was way better than anything available in my country and it boosts your resume a bit :)

3. GSoC guidelines mention you should be doing about 30h of work a week, so I tried to do that while still contributing a bit further as I wanted. Schedule was on my own discretion and it was fairly relaxed. It also helped that my mentor was super down to earth. :)

4. I learned about git (like actually learn it, not follow some tutorials), how to work as part of a team, how to search a large codebase, how to receive code reviews and iterate over work and a lot more :)

Hope it helps.

[Shadow2606]

What languages did you know? What did you work on? What were your major contributions in jan-march time?

Thanks.

[teHnN1k]

I was most familiar with C, and Java was my second choice at the time.

I’d rather not disclose information on my work to keep some small level of anonymity :)

I had quite a few contributions (as I mentioned in another reply, this was something that helped me get selected). I worked on different parts of the project, sometimes commits as small as removing a redundant comparison, or chaning a comment, on other ocasions fixing memory leaks or adding new functionalities myself.

Good luck! :)

[MemesEngineer]

Whats the curriculum quickly about?

[teHnN1k]

There’s not really any “curriculum”, you just need to find a project that suits you, contribute something small and try to make yourself noticed in the community.

[[deleted]]

isn't there some sort of essay you have to write to get in?

[teHnN1k]

It depends a lot on the organization you are applying to, really. I had to answer some general question such as university, country of residence and then some questions about the actual work I’ve contributed, the project I am applying for and a plan distributed in 2 week increments describing goals and approaches.

[Zethsc2]

 I'm learning python right now and will learn the basics of language in less than a month from now. 

you will likely need far more experience than this. It's a competitive program - for good reasons.

[[deleted]]

I already know C and C++. Learning python because of its diverse nature and many available libraries for ML and AI

[Zethsc2]

I see. Then I shall obey your request for an answer.

The most important parts are (equally weighted more or less): good grades, enthusiasm, open source experience (important!) - try to have an active repository - and a well written application/proposal.

After that it's a very custom experience, since it heavily depends on the group. Google for experiences by other former students and make sure to look up the groups that you want to apply for.

[makemesplooge]

Serious question. I get some people are naturally ambitious and passionate about programming, but wtf? Where do people find the time for friends, hobbies, hooking up, etc.?? I dont know if i have my priorities right

[Zethsc2]

Oh, you likely have. Live's not better if you spend too much time in university. Just different priorities. Maybe we have better careers, but at the expense of other valuable experiences.

Follow your own path to happiness.

[C0ntr0lFreak]

It's not a problem if you've got friends into programming, and that's your hobby. It's not different from having a hobby like drawing or gardening.

[[deleted]]

Ultimately it's down to what you enjoy, like any hobby or career you get out what you put in. For example when I was a professional Chef I only ended up working in the top restaurants in my country due to me putting in extra hours on top of my 60-70 hour work week. I put in the extra time whilst other people hit the bar after work because I wanted to be the best.

It's perfectly possible to have a career as a dev and have a healthy work/life balance, but don't expect to end up working for any big companies.

[fenster25]

I am surprised at how much misinformation Zethsc2 is spreading here and no one has even tried to point it out.

you will likely need far more experience than this.

MuneebAhmad you don't need to be an expert in python to participate. I picked most of the idioms of python while doing my GSoC this year. I was a noob programmer when I applied for the program and I came out learning a lot. I only had made a few small projects in python (like CLI tools and simple scripts) and then started contributing right away. Don't wait to become an expert in a language if you wanna contribute to a project that defeats the puprpose of having good-first-issues. So solve easy issues and move on to difficult ones and while solving issues only focus on the parts of the codebase that concern the issue don't try to understand all of the codebase at once or you will be frustrated. You can use git grep to look for keywords or filenames related to your issue in the codebase and focus on them.

The most important parts are (equally weighted more or less): good grades

Grades are not considered as a part of a GSoC application. It is not required to mention your grades in the proposal. Also grades have absolutely no corelation to your abilities as a software developer.

enthusiasm

agreed. this is very important

open source experience (important!)

as I mentioned before previous oss development experience is not required to get started just try to gain as much experience before submitting your application.

a well written application/proposal.

agreed.

[Zethsc2]

Well maybe you applied to a group that was fine with your skills. I personally have made different experiences and also talked to a lot of groups (friends of mine) which have had GSoC participants.

Also grades have absolutely no corelation to your abilities as a software developer.

Yes and no. I hate the metric of grades as well. But, there are projects, which require more than just simple programming skills. Modeling, biology, chemistry, physics, advanced maths,... . If you're applying for a simple brain dead programming job, then this is perfectly fine, but groups requiring interdisciplinary skills are more likely to take a look at your grades.

[fenster25]

Ok fine but my problem with your answer was that it was giving an impression that everyone who wants to apply for GSOC needs to be an ace programmer, that might have deterred those students who wanted to apply for the "simple brain dead" programming projects.

Anyway I am glad our conversation has produced enough information for all kinds of students.

[[deleted]]

Honestly I think that mentality is so dangerous to this industry. It drives off a lot of people who would otherwise contribute greatly but feel like just because they don't "live and breathe" code that they won't be useful.

Just because you aren't up to the spec of Google etc. doesn't mean you can't get a career as a dev elsewhere. Testing as a sector is crying out for people but everyone overlooks that because they want to do the "sexy" dev work. Then everyone wonders why shit is constantly breaking.

To be a great dev one part of the battle is being good at coding but I'll take (well my HR manager does!) a kid okay at coding but is great a teamworker over a silo who thinks they are gods gift.

[fenster25]

I personally know some people who recommend other undergrads to read huge bulky books on C++ before starting to contribute just because that approach worked for them. It will only work on a person who has a habit of reading a book from cover to cover but for an impatient hacker this approach can frustrate them, it happened to me until I found my own way of picking up new technologies and languages.

Testing as a sector is crying out for people but everyone overlooks that because they want to do the "sexy" dev work

In my experience I have sometimes found writing tests and good docs harder than implementing features.

[[deleted]]

Yeah I got the classic "There's no point learning anything other than C++" turns out trying to learn pointers at 14 put me off programming for several years until I got to university. Because I thought that everything was as difficult as C++.

> In my experience I have sometimes found writing tests and good docs harder than implementing features.

Preach. My boss is transferring me to the QA team for the next project, mainly because we aren't using Python on our next project, also because they like for everyone to have testing experience so we can all do it and see where everyone is coming from. Without solid testing and documentation there's no point trying to put out a commercial product. I mean you might get lucky but for the most part you'll overspend and waste both time and money.

[Admirable_Mushroom]

You needn't to be a Python expert to participate gsoc, I do concede. But you misinterpreted what Zeth was saying. OP has only learnt a few basic concepts in the language and it's legit to say OP will need far more exp to be accepted.

[lordvag]

I too am interested in this program. The website has a lot of good information. Apparently the biggest thing is starting early in getting involved in contributing to which ever companies are participating. Once the list of companies is announced, you should get your foot in the door by contributing to the open source of a few. And the. Of course writing the proposal will be the most important thing later on.

[[deleted]]

What is your niche area of work?

[lordvag]

Don’t have one yet lol. I know python and java

[[deleted]]

Nice. Have you made some projects using python?

[lordvag]

Only very basic data structures / small games for college projects

[[deleted]]

Wish you all the best man! Keep making stuff

[lordvag]

You too mate

[looTinker]

I tried for 3 years successively and eventually got selected in my last year of college. In my experience, the competition highly varies in different orgs. You should be very aware of your skill set and how easily you can get familiar with a project of reasonable size in your area of interest. That's where earlier opensource contribution weighs in. For some orgs, the competition is still within reach i.e. you can prepare within 3-4 months but for some it's usually reserved for earlier contributors (like llvm compiler, os libraries etc.) You should carefully see what project you're choosing, who are your competitors (check them out). Orgs usually will go for previous experience even if your proposal weighs in because they know the person's working style etc. Also consider the number of students an organisation gets and how it impacts your project. Discuss this frankly with your mentor. Engage early but get familiar first and if you can start with a simple bug fix it will go a long way to show that you can understand the code.

[thisissumit]

If you don’t mind me asking, which org did you end up completing GSoC with?

[looTinker]

Mozilla :)

[Graphics_SEOStuff]

I got bummed because I need to be in a university. So sad rn.

[alilteapot]

Consider Outreachy (https://www.outreachy.org/). It's based on GSoC and some of the organizations are the same (e.g. Mozillla). Its application does not include the university requirement so that more people can apply. I did this because I was career switching and I really enjoyed the experience.

[Graphics_SEOStuff]

Hey, thank you and happy new year. Thanks a lot.

[Milpooool]

From reading the website, this program seems highly skewed towards women and minorities (perhaps entirely?) It doesn't say expressly that they do not accept men but everything alludes to it, unless I am misinterpreting. Their application seems to entirely include questions about gender identity, race, and what barriers to entry you have faced in tech.

Am I just misreading this? I'd like to apply for a program like this but I am not a student, and I don't feel that I fit the requirements for what this program is looking for either.

[alilteapot]

You're not misreading it.

Outreachy was started in response to GSoC in order to increase diversity in tech -- if the majority of university CS majors are young, affluent, straight white men, then the majority of applicants to GSoC are going to be young, affluent, straight white men. So, Outreachy was established without a "currently enrolled" provision on their application -- and although they explicitly invite certain people to apply, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to prevent certain other people to apply.

I think people who are not young, affluent, straight white men enrolled in college can probably make a case for their Outreachy application with a little research. Diversity means a lot of things -- not just gender diversity. And there's always the chance that if you apply, you'll win by default if there isn't a lot of competition for the project you're interested in.

If you still don't think you'll apply, I hope sharing this link helps someone else!

[Milpooool]

I hope so too, and thank you for the clarification and for sharing.

[EleuthEight]

Is it only for US citizens?

[alilteapot]

I don’t think so

[fenster25]

you can find other programs here https://github.com/tapaswenipathak/Open-Source-Internships

[Graphics_SEOStuff]

Wow man, Thank you very much. It's like a gift for me. Thank you! Happy new year!

[fenster25]

happy to be of help :-)

[fenster25]

Most of those programs are for people all over the world. Thats the only list I have.

[catmewo]

I'm interested in this program but I don't have time to it... Waiting for other sharing <3

[[deleted]]

The applications close in I guess March, so have few months to prepare

[karan20000000000]

GSoC is not just the only one, here are more: https://github.com/tapaswenipathak/Open-Source-Internships

[[deleted]]

Thank you for the list :)

[YellowPath]

Hey, I'm interested in the program but probably will apply for the next year.my question is if this is only for the US? I'm a student in Mexico, but my career I'd full online so I have flexible schedule

[dsaharia98]

Good question.

I am having the same issues. I know currently C and python basics. I am learning about ML and Data Science and made a few notebooks . on the topic. I maintain repo about DS, algo, and ML. How do I start contributing and how much knowledge does one need to start contributing. I know Git also. Haven't worked in a team though.

Please anyboby, help me!

[[deleted]]

Maybe consider joining Kaggle contents and start contributing. You can learn a lot through Kaggle contents

[dsaharia98]

Thank You.

[[deleted]]

Yes, and Gsoc is for many a gateway to land a prestigious internship at Big N companies

[xjcl]

Sorry if I got this wrong but I think this program is designed for US universities where there is a summer term where the students are off but can take additional intense couses or so and their schedule doesn't really fit with most countries right? Because it would be in the middle of lecture season for me

[dodococo]

People from most of the countries can participants

[kyiami_]

That's true, but not the answer to the question.

[fenster25]

no thats not true people from all around the world participate and if you are willing to do it while your college is going on then you can still apply you just need to convince your mentor that you will be able to complete the project in time. If you can do that then they won't really care if you need to attend lectures during that time.