If you want to learn programming well, you don’t just have to write programs behind closed doors. Open source projects What a great shortcut!
Not only can you improve your technology, but you can also work with developers from all over the world to gain practical experience. Today I will share how to learn programming from open source projects, so that you can quickly grow into a more powerful developer!
What is an open source project?
Simply put,Open source projects(Open Source Projects) is public code that anyone can view, modify and even contribute! The code of these projects is completely transparent, allowing everyone to freely learn and contribute their own code.
Common open source projects:
- Linux: The most used operating system in the world, found everywhere from servers to personal computers!
- WordPress: If you want to build your own website, WordPress can help you! Many websites are built using this platform, including the Hogan & Wavelet blog you are reading now
- React: This is a JavaScript library developed by Facebook, which is a must-know for front-end development!
- TensorFlow: A magic tool for machine learning, developed by Google, suitable for friends who are interested in AI.
What can beginners do with open source?
Beginners should never think that open source projects are difficult! In fact, the open source community welcomes novices to join. You can start with small tasks and gradually become familiar with the entire open source process.
A suitable way to participate for beginners:
- Read the code: Start by looking at other people's code, learn how experts write programs, and observe the clean program code structure.
- Fix minor bugs: Many open source projects are marked with "good first issue". These are simple tasks suitable for novices to help you get started quickly.
- write file: Help the project write teaching documents or translate instructions, you can not only learn the project logic, but also make a contribution!
- Write tests: Write test cases to help the project ensure functional stability. Even if you are not familiar with the complete project logic, you can help with testing.
Beginners can also contribute to open source projects!
That's right!Beginners can also contribute to the open source community! 
Don't worry that your skills are not strong enough. In fact, many open source projects have designed simple tasks such as "good first issue" so that novices can learn from them.
How to start contributing?
- Select project: First search for projects marked "good first issue" on GitHub or GitLab and find one that suits you.
- Participate in discussions: Before development, take a look at the Issue area of the project to understand the project progress and requirements.
- Start with simple questions: You don’t need to challenge big features from the beginning, just fix a bug or update the file and you can get started!
How to contribute open source code?
Participating in the open source project process is not difficult at all. As long as you follow the steps, everyone can contribute!
Step 1: Fork the project
First, find the project you are interested in and click "Fork" to copy a copy of the project to your GitHub account, so you can modify it at will without affecting the main project!
Step 2: Copy the project to the local environment
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/projectname.git
Step 3: Create a new branch
Before making any changes, it is best to create a branch first to ensure that your changes do not directly affect the main branch.
git checkout -b feature-branch
Step 4: Make changes and submit
After editing the code, use git add and git commit Save the changes to your branch.
git add . git commit -m "Brief description of what changes you made"
Step 5: Send Pull Request
Finally, push your branch to GitHub and send a Pull Request to the project maintainers. They will review your code and decide whether to merge your changes into the project. In this way, you have completed your first open source contribution!
The benefits of contributing to the open source community 
Participating in open source can not only improve technology, but also has many unexpected benefits!
1. Improve technical capabilities 
Open source projects expose you to various programming languages and technology frameworks, and learn how to solve practical problems. You'll learn a lot about professional development best practices!
2. Build professional connections 
You'll meet developers from around the world and gain valuable experience and feedback from them, connections that may help you develop your career in the future.
3. Enrich your portfolio 
Each contribution is a work, and these contributions can be used as your portfolio to show to potential employers, improving your job search competitiveness.
4. Get valuable feedback 
Your code will be reviewed by project maintainers and other developers, and you can learn a lot about how to write better code. This feedback is a very valuable learning resource!
5. Learn teamwork 
Open source projects are often the result of collaboration among many people. Through participation, you will learn how to perform version control, code review and collaborative development in a team. These are essential skills for work.
Conclusion
Participating in open source projects is definitely one of the best ways to learn programming! Whether it’s learning technology, building connections, or enriching your portfolio, the open source community can bring you unlimited growth opportunities. Find a project that interests you now and start contributing! You will find that this is not only an opportunity to improve yourself, but also to experience the fun of working with developers from around the world!
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