How to effortlessly contribute to Open Source as a beginner developer in 3 simple steps.
My journey as a self-taught developer began with a burning curiosity. Growing up in Uganda, where resources were scarce, I couldn't afford a formal education. Instead, I relied on handwritten notes from friends and online tutorials. As time went on, I got good at building websites for local businesses, each project proving my self-taught skills. But my dream of joining a major tech company seemed unreachable. Rejections piled up, all due to my academic background and self-doubt crept in. Then, a turning point. A friend I had shared my knowledge with landed a job at a promising startup in Kampala. He believed in me and recommended me. For five years now, I've been working remotely for that very company. They saw the potential in passionate, self-taught talent. But my heart is saddened by the millions in Uganda and the world facing the same challenges. That's why I am sharing my knowledge on this platform and other social platforms. My expertise is in PHP, JavaScript, WordPress, Technical Writing and business leadership. If you want to learn from me or collaborate, consider to follow or send me a on X.com/davidofug
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.
It helps beginner developers gain knowledge and build coding grit.
It helps developers improve in terms of exposure hence increasing the chances of getting a job.
Sometimes people donate to open source projects which means the project can forward some stipends to dedicated developers on the team.
It gives you access to a stronger network full of industry expert developers to learn from.
It helps in learning about working in a team and all the tools involved.
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.
