How to effortlessly contribute to Open Source as a beginner developer in 3 simple steps.

How to effortlessly contribute to Open Source as a beginner developer in 3 simple steps.

An Open source project is one to which anyone can contribute. The contribution can be in form of improving the code, reporting bugs, writing/editing documentation, and redistributing the software.

To beginners contributing to Open source comes with some advantages than you can imagine. Here are some I think of right now.

1. It helps beginner developers gain knowledge and build coding grit.

2. It helps developers improve in terms of exposure hence increasing the chances of getting a job.

3. Sometimes people donate to open source projects which means the project can forward some stipends to dedicated developers on the team.

4. It gives you access to a stronger network full of industry expert developers to learn from.

5. It helps in learning about working in a team and all the tools involved.

6. It's perhaps the quickest way through which to make an impact solving global problems.

That's it about the advantages. Let's look at the steps of contributing to Open source projects for beginners and experienced developers who are just getting started with Open source.

If you would like to watch a video for the same here you go. Click here

1. Github

Github is the platform where the majority of Open source projects are hosted. It's good to start by opening a Free Github account

If you don't know how to sign up for a Github account watch this video.

2. Access the project

Now that you have the Github account, log in and search for Open source projects.

Read the guidelines to learn how you can access the project. The same guidelines will show you how to contribute.

3. Submit issues

As you use the app. If you encounter challenges, submit an issue. An issue is how you report a challenge or suggestion to the project developers. Learn how to submit an issue on Github.