It's the end of the semester. While I'm still working on a couple of issues for the Hurl project, I think it's a good time to not only look back on my work this month, but also my experience with the open source development course throughout this semester:
鉂勶笍 December Recap
It's been such a good time working on Hurl. For one, I finally got to get my hands on a real Rust project. Also, working with a fantastic maintainer such as @jcamiel has been incredibly motivating. My interactions with them have been inspiring and rewarding in and of itself. I found myself willingly putting more efforts into research and problem-solving. I felt much more comfortable asking for clarifications, and more confident proposing solutions.
馃枼锔� Technologies I Learned
It's honestly been the most productive 4 months I've ever had! I went from a open source "consumer" to a contributor, from a self-taught Rust novice to... let's say an apprentice. Here's a list of technologies I came in touch with:
- Rust 馃
- TypeScript
- Go
- Django
- GNOME JavaScript (GJS)
- GTK / GLib
- React Native
- WatermelonDB
- Android SDK / Emulator
- libcurl
- ...
馃洜锔� Knowledge vs Applying it
Something I felt throughout the past 2 years in college was that, I learned a crazy amount of stuff from school, but somehow I had no clue how to start on coding in real life. It's almost like there's a gap in between the knowledge and the application.
Working in open source for me has been the perfect building block to fill in that gap. Looking back, I don't think there's much skills to learn to covert that knowledge into application, but that first-hand experience was absolutely crucial.
鉂わ笍鈥嶐煩� Personal Growth
It might not sound like a lot, but finally being able to put myself out there and do the things I'm passionate about was a huge step forward.
In the past, I spent a lot of time working on solo projects. Whether it being a Nextcloud server stack, or a fresh install of Arch Linux, I only went as far as where the documentations took me. I was too afraid to ask questions or even report an issue.
I know I have a passionate and curious mind, but it's often drowned out by an overwhelming amount of anxiety. Ironically, in most cases, all I really need is a simple nudge to get me started. Then I'll realize things are nowhere nearly as scary as I've feared. This was no exception.
This course has been so much fun that I found it totally worth it to constantly push myself out of my comfort zone. I actively reached out to strangers and ask for contributions. I worked closely with other people from the class and even hopped on calls with them (a significant achievement for me 馃槅)! I attended the 8 am Friday session every single week to share my progress and thoughts - something that would scare me away from week 1 if it were for a different course.
馃懍 Friends Along the Way
It's hard to meet people or make friends in college in this post-pandemic world. Most classes have become online and for the in-person sessions, people just show up for the work and leave when they're done.
In this course, Not only did I have the honor to work with the best professor I've ever had (Shout out to professor Dave(@humphd)! You are a real gem 馃檹!), I also get to meet some of the best classmates. Their passion and insights throughout the semester have been a great source of inspiration!
I'm also happy to say that I made a really good friend! I met Amir early in the class when we worked on each other's project (I would never forget how you learned Rust from scratch just to work on my project 馃槅). From then we just instantly clicked. We connected a lot in and out of class, and now we're thinking about starting a project together, which I'm very excited about!
馃摋 Conclusion
It's been an incredible 4 months! But just as the professor said, this is only the beginning of our open source journey - and I couldn't have asked for a better way to start. Also, next semester I'm coming back for a different open source course. Who knows what lies ahead?
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