Open Source Developers and Mountain Climbers - What is common between them?

I have recently completed a Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2018 student project as part of the DevoWorm group and OpenWorm Foundation. Being a newcomer to the world of open source, it might seem a little presumptuous of me to write an article about the stages of becoming an experienced open source developer. But this article has resulted from personal experiences in the Open Source community, and so should be useful to open-source project newcomers and future Summer of Code students alike.

I would like to begin by sharing a metaphor. Imagine a group of mountain climbers trying to get to the summit of a mountain.

There are some who are doing it for the first time - the BEGINNERS. They find it difficult to get used to this activity and it is all new to them - from maintaining rations of water and oxygen cylinders to getting used to the physical exhaustion. Then there is the psychological factor - the will power and ability to keep going forward despite setbacks. The psychological and physical factors combine to make this period fraught with unexpected challenges.

Then there’s another group who have already done this a few times before. They are definitely more confident in their abilities, but not so good that they can lead an expedition to the top. They know how to maintain the rations like water and oxygen up to the correct levels because they have experienced it a few times before already. Willpower is also a little stronger than the beginners. These are the INTERMEDIATE climbers.

Finally, the group leading the expedition - the EXPERIENCED - have done mountain climbing dozens of times. They lead the entire movement - from allocating resources to other climbers and deciding course of action in case of disaster. The remaining group looks upto them for directions when they are stuck. The rest of the group draws inspiration from them too, because they are the leaders of the movement. The EXPERIENCED have already been successful at the act of mountain climbing and learned from their failures - but they still keep doing it and training the others to reach higher and better positions.

I’m sure by now you might have guessed that these grades of expertise parallel the world of open source development. As with mountain-climbing, I believe there are 3 distinct classes of developers in open source:

1. Beginner - A beginner struggles with basic concepts like version control systems. Also diving deep into the code base of an established open source organization seems difficult at first. As with mountain-climbing, the learning curve is steep. But once the initial effort is made, steady progress is seen.

2. Intermediate - Intermediates are ore comfortable with basic issues like using Git or version control system more generally. Intermediates can become familiar with the code base in a shorter amount of time, either due to organizational experience or experience with interpreting code more generally. In working at the intermediate level, time management becomes an important skill to build. Along with contributions to code base in a limited amount of time, other work like collaborating with teams and community bonding become important skills to master.

3. Experienced - The experienced are leaders of their organizations, and decide the overall strategy for these organizations. Experienced open-source contributors allocate new comers to issues to which beginners and intermediates will fit well. Other roles include conflict resolution and making sure that the organization functions with efficiency. Technical expertise (strong coding abilities) and a firm grip on domain-specific knowledge makes them natural leaders.

I believe after my GSoC journey, I have almost reached the end of the first 'BEGINNERS' phase. It was both an educational and rewarding experience. The initial weeks were tough to get used to because coding was one of many things I was simultaneously juggling - blog progress, mentor calls, community bonding, documentation, and domain-specific knowledge (learning about embryogenesis and neuroscience).

Prior to my experience with GSoC, I couldn’t have pictured completing such a project with a neuroscience domain organization, but the massive support that I received from the larger OpenWorm Foundation community, Dr. Stephen Larson, and especially my mentor Dr. Bradly Alicea. Bradly introduced me to the DevoWorm Group, and was instrumental in whatever I have been able to achieve this summer. I learned from them that dozens of contributors sitting in 10 different time zones can collaborate to work on a project that has the potential to impact an entire community of researchers and developers.



CONCLUSION - Aiming for a moonshot project

I hope to keep dedicating myself at least part-time to the cause of OpenWorm. The OpenWorm mantra is “building the world’s first worm-matrix, one line of code at a time”. The project that I worked on has given me a good foothold and introduction to the world of open source - especially the OpenWorm Foundation and DevoWorm Group. Now, there’s no turning back. I have decided that I will contribute to the OpenWorm Foundation by integrating my GSoC project with the Geppetto modeling environment. Technically, its a moonshot project and will not be easy to achieve. But HEY! I just participated in GOOGLE SUMMER OF CODE. As they say at Google: "aim for moonshots; its easier to make something 10X better than 10% better". That’s what I’ll aim for - a moonshot. Let’s see where it takes us - me and the OpenWorm Foundation. At worst, I end up contributing some useful code and learning something interesting. At best - well, we integrate DevoWorm with Geppetto!

Until we meet again!
Arnab Banerjee
Student Developer
Google Summer of Code 2018 - INCF (OpenWorm Foundation and DevoWorm Group