# Where to begin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 2, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-begin/80946 "2007-01-02T13:07:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/5e9695/32.png) [@Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Oin_M)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-begin/80946/1 "2007-01-02T13:07:25Z")
Hello! I would like to start working on a real project. Start “seeing some action”. I’ve been reading through ruby books for half a year now, but i haven’t yet started to make real programs. What I would like to do is help an opensource project somewhere, but i don’t really know how or who would need this help and what skills would that require. There are a lot of questions. When am I good enough to enroll in such a project? What do I do? Where do I look? I tried searching for a project on rubyforge, but I only found 3 requests for a ruby developer and they all looked too complicated. I got put off when seeing so many lines of code. How exactly does a new developer help when joining a big project that has been going on for a very long time. Should I even attempt that? there are really lots of questions in my mind. I hope someone will point me in the right direction. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/5e9695/32.png) [@Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Oin_M)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-begin/80946/2 "2007-01-02T13:17:28Z")
Oin M. wrote: > a ruby developer and they all looked too complicated. I got put off when > seeing so many lines of code. How exactly does a new developer help when > joining a big project that has been going on for a very long time. Should I > even attempt that? > > there are really lots of questions in my mind. I hope someone will point me in > the right direction. > > Thank you! A lot of open source projects need better documentation. A way to start might be to study a project that interests you and work on their doc. In the process of doing so you’ll probably need to write a lot of example programs to learn how the code works. It’s quite possible that you’ll find bugs for which you could try to write the fix. If you read and write a (human) language other than the one used for the project’s current doc, you could offer to translate it. ---
**Author:** ![Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/5e9695/32.png) [@Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Oin_M)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-begin/80946/3 "2007-01-02T13:23:28Z")
On 1/2/07, Oin M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > When am I good enough to enroll in such a project? When a team accepts your code, then you are good enough. Most projects will take any useful contributions, you don’t have to be “enrolled”. Keep submitting code, and you’ll probably get write access to the repository sooner or later. > What do I do? Where do I look? You can always start your own project. Sourceforge is full of ideas without code, although you shouldn’t feel bound to listen to someone just because they put up a project page. If they haven’t done anything with their idea, implement it yourself and reap the eternal glory. 😉 > How exactly does a new developer help when > joining a big project that has been going on for a very long time. Should I > even attempt that? This is indeed a difficult question. Generally, I move into new projects by reading source code (and documentation, if it exists), asking questions and taking on some small bugfixing assignments. Anything that helps you get into the groove of the codebase is good. Even just running the software and submitting bug reports should be appreciated by the team. If you find a bug, try to fix it yourself. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/5e9695/32.png) [@Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Oin_M)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 7:35am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-begin/80946/4 "2007-01-03T07:35:24Z")
Oin M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) writes: > I’ve been reading through ruby books for half a year now, but i haven’t yet= > or=20 > a ruby developer and they all looked too complicated. I got put off when=20 > seeing so many lines of code. How exactly does a new developer help when=20 > joining a big project that has been going on for a very long time. Should I= > =20 > even attempt that? > > there are really lots of questions in my mind. I hope someone will point me= > in=20 > the right direction. It usually takes a bit of time to get across any project you join which has been running for a while. Don’t look at all the lines of code to start with as you will get overwhelmed. My recommendations are 1. First, find a project you are really interested in. don’t worry about the complexity or size. It is far more important to get involved in something you have an interest in if you don’t want to lose momentum too quickly. 2. Start by offering to provide testing support. All projects need testers. The advantage of starting off here is that you will get to understand the project, the objectives and how the application works. This high level conceptual understanding is critical for getting to understand the lower level aspects. Most projects also require people to write documentation. While this is often a bit boring and doesn’t have the cred of being a code contributor, its important and a good way to verify you have the concepts and proper understanding of the app. Projects will often succeed or fail based on the quality and relevance of the documentation. 3. As you get to understand the app through testing, start doing some simple basic debugging of problems you find. Initially, just start with clear documentation of the problem, providing test cases which can reproduce the issue and then start providing additional infora\mation and tracking down the specific module/file and then the code. Apart from allowing you to get more familiar with the application, you will also get familiar with the coding conventions, learn additional techniques and slowly develop your own code knowledge. 4. Once you are comfortable with the app, its code etc, select some problems from the bug tracking system for the project and try to solve them. Provide your solutions to others in the team for their comment and suggestions. don’t be too thin skinned - some people tend to be very blunt when providing criticism of code. Put your ego aside as much as possible and try to appreciate what the basis of their criticism is. Sometimes, you may just disagree with their analysis, but try to understand where they are coming from and don’t be too defensive. 5. Finally, be patient. Most interesting applications/projects are fairly complex and it will take a while before you really understand many of the finer points. Don’t bee to embarrassed to ask for criticism and provide your work for others to review. Above all, get involved in something you find interesting rather than just something you think will be easy and be prepared to take a while before you feel as though you are providing valuable contributions. HTH Tim ---
**Author:** ![Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/5e9695/32.png) [@Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Oin_M)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-begin/80946/5 "2007-01-02T19:35:10Z")
Timothy H. wrote: > A lot of open source projects need better documentation. A way to start > might be to study a project that interests you and work on their doc. In > the process of doing so you’ll probably need to write a lot of example > programs to learn how the code works. It’s quite possible that you’ll > find bugs for which you could try to write the fix. If you read and > write a (human) language other than the one used for the project’s > current doc, you could offer to translate it. I am in the same boat as Oin M. although I am pretty sure my code is not yet sufficient to contribute to anything. I am really interested in your suggestion of working on projects’ rdocs and I am native English-speaker but I live in Colombia and could easily translate any documentation into Spanish. Could you suggest a project where I could get started or point me in the direction of where I could find such projects? Many thanks!!! ---
**Author:** ![Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/5e9695/32.png) [@Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Oin_M)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-begin/80946/6 "2007-01-03T15:18:24Z")
On Jan 3, 2007, at 1:35 AM, Tim X wrote: > have an interest in if you don’t want to lose momentum too quickly. > this is often a > basic debugging of problems you find. Initially, just start with clear > knowledge. > what the basis of their criticism is. Sometimes, you may just > provide your > > – > tcross (at) rapttech dot com dot au And a hearty +1 to that! Nice work, Tim. That’s probably one of the best primers I’ve seen so far. You should blog that, assuming you haven’t already. Maybe see how it fares on digg 🙂 -Mat ---
**Author:** ![Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/5e9695/32.png) [@Oin\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Oin_M)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/where-to-begin/80946/7 "2007-01-04T05:11:45Z")
Mat S. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) writes: > > something you > > Most projects also require people to write documentation. While > > some simple > > own code > > to appreciate > > finer points. Don’t bee to embarrassed to ask for criticism and > > Tim > > > > – > > tcross (at) rapttech dot com dot au > > And a hearty +1 to that! Nice work, Tim. That’s probably one of the > best primers I’ve seen so far. You should blog that, assuming you > haven’t already. Maybe see how it fares on digg 🙂 > -Mat Thanks. However, I’m embarrassed to admit I still don’t have a blog! Just one of those “to do” items that doesn’t seem to rise to the top. Tim