Re: help newbie asking for help to contribute

[Arth Patel <arth svnit gmail com>]

hi there

Hello,

i am a hobbyist python programmer i have done some visual basic in
couple of years ago and then switch to python but this was not a real
world experience so after search i decide that it will be good to
contribute in open source, first because i like the idea of open
source second to gain more experience in programming in general and in
game programming specifically

Nice!

 

so i take a copy of the gnome-Sudoku
source code in order to look in it but after a while i realize that
the source code of this game is much bigger than i thought it has
hundred of lines of code and i was very disappointing i thought it
will be easy for me to contribute in such a thing like the
gnome-Sudoku but after a while i realize that it need more experience
in programming with python and maybe in software engineering than what
i had

Don't get disappointed by the size of the code-base. Once you start experimenting with it, you will catch up soon..

 

so i email you hopping that i can find solution to my problem i
want to contribute in open source very bad but i didn't know where to
start coding from my experience in python is from books and a udacity
course in search engine programming with python not a real world
practice i know that coding for large program like gnome is not so
easy for the less experiences one's like me but isn't the hole idea of

open source is about contributing so if you can give me some small
operation like building some function or module that will put me in
the first step in order to have more knowledge in open source
programming will be much of helping for now  ...

For starting, I suggest, you start reading the source code (even if you don't understand some parts). Just have a feel of the overall organization. This will help you find out work-flow of the code. Once you think you know what different file contains, start with the easiest one. Also consider looking at the bug reports, and if you can understand what the problem is, try to find the code causing it, and then try to fix it.

If you are interested in learning new programming language, there is a Vala port for gnome-sudoku in progress..

I would also suggest you to hang on to IRC channel (#gnome-games on irc.gnome.org). There are people in there who can help you out, in case you have any problem.

-PioneerAxon (Arth Patel)