Open source is a key that can unlock many doors: tremendous learning, compelling career benefits, and industry-wide impact.

Every software engineer inevitably consumes open-source software, but they rarely contribute back. Let's change that! The transition from open source consumer to contributor might feel daunting, but the rewards are enormous.

This course covers everything you need to contribute meaningfully to existing open-source software projects. What you'll learn by the end:

• 🚀 Understand the benefits of contributing to open-source

• 🤯 Set up the right mindset for working in open source

• 💨 Learn how to demystify a new codebase

• 👩🏽‍💻 Master the code and submit changes to it

You'll learn directly from the former Head of Open Source at Meta. James also runs his own sizeable open-source project. What's included:

Open Source Terminology

Let's remove any confusion about the terms you've likely heard thrown around: projects, repos, issues, and pull requests. We'll talk about what exactly open source is and why it has so many benefits for the industry and for you.

Discover How To Contribute To Open Source

With so many organizations and individuals involved in open source, it can be daunting to decide where to contribute. A few critical ideas are covered here:

• Finding something you use (which you may not even realize is open-source)
• Finding companies active in open source development
• Evaluating a project's health so you don't waste your time

Learning The Codebase

We'll cover tips and tricks to make sense of a large project: how do you understand the basics, the most important modules, and learn the social aspect of open-source contributions?

We'll also cover the recommended steps when making commits and landing changes. Ideally, your contributions get reviewed quickly while building trust with the project authors.