Google Summer of Code (GSoC): Python (programming language)

Computer Programming Edit

How do I prepare for GSoC 2014, assuming that I have a basic
understanding of Python? Edit
I've been taking a few online courses and can write fairly simple programs /
scripts in Python. I also know some rudimentary C. How do I learn and
practice with the aim of making it to GSoC 2013 for a Python-related
project?
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Adnan Azmat Edi t Bi o Make Anonymous
Hasanat Kazmi Suggest Bi o
Votes by Adnan Azmat, Gautam Bajaj, Niharika Kohli, Nilesh Govindrajan, and 71
more.
I have thrice participated in GSoC as a student.
Answer form Vikram Kamath is adequate and but not sufficient. You would have to
take all these steps - but many who would take all these steps, still won't get
selected.
The key to getting selected for a project is NOT your skill-set but your
interest in the project (project not organisation). Of course you must have basic
knowledge of programming language they use but you won't need any fancy
knowledge unless project is depended on very specific knowledge.
When organisations and their 'ideas pages' are up, choose ONE project to focus.
(you might even choose a project before organisations are officially announced)
DON'T apply to multiple projects and this would divide your focus. You might
have to ask questions in mailing lists to decide if you are interested in a project or
not; but do it early. Don't leave anything for last; showing interest is key to GSoC.
When you like a project and you feel that you will be able to pull it off, then ask
questions - but intelligently thought questions. Don't just shoot questions which
make mentors think you would need lots of help. Act smart, intelligent, excited
and focused. Don't just ask for suggestions, give suggestions yourself. Asking
questions on mailing list get more visibility then IRC.
Write a great proposal; refer from mailing lists and your discussions about it with
mentors etc. Show mockups, screenshots (photoshoped), write concisely, promise
what you would be able to do, tell them what extra you would do if time permits etc
etc. You must spend some good time writing proposal - may be many days. You
would have time to write only ONE GOOD proposal; so just focus on one project
early on. Good proposal is necessary but you must have already given mentor a
very good impression about you - You mentor must be, before you write your
proposal, waiting for your proposal.
Choose a project which is of high interest in the organisation. Because if a
project doesn't get much appreciation in organisation, they will not put it in top few
projects when sending preference list to Google and Google doesn't grant all project
which organizations send. (Number of projects selected in a year strongly correlate
to number of projects selected in last year.) So top few are selected. Proposing
your own idea would hardly make mentors as excited as their own ideas, so either
no one would come forward to mentor you; (or they would put your idea at last of
preference list.) So don't innovate outside the project!
Few projects are low hanging fruits but many people would try to pluck it - some
projects are hard but fewer would try to play their shot there. But don't sort projects
based on their hardness to implement - but rank them on interest level of
organisation. If you are confortable with hard one, then you can have better chance
to get selected.
If you get selected, make sure you have very good communication with your mentor.
Do push you code regularly even if you mentor DOESN'T care about code.
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Upvoted 2+ Comments Share Thank Report Updated 19 Jan
Upvoted 1 Comment Share (1) Thank Report 5 Dec, 2012
Vijay Mahantesh, PESIT Student
Votes by Adnan Azmat, Rishi Mukherjee, Sudipta Sen, Jay Rambhia, and 21 more.
I am a SimpleCV developer, participated in GSoC 2012.
My experiences with GSoC was great, I am going to tell my preparation for GSoC
The day Google released the list of Organisations participating, I searched
communities that work on Python.
Later i narrowed down my list topic wise. I choose, Computer Vision (SimpleCV)
and game theory (Sorry i don't remember the name of the organisation).
Once i narrowed down my list. I was started exploring the library. Instead of
checking what is there? I started digging what is missing. later I found out few
tickets (These are things that need to be resolved) related to Stereo Vision.
I had email conversations with my mentor, discussing the feasibility of the
project on StereoVision.
Finally, i got into GSoC program and completed it successfully. :)
Most important point is TRACK the mailing list or TICKETS to find out what is
missing in the library. Also, discuss the importance of the work you wish to do, with
your mentor before applying.
You can generalize my experience and i am sure you can find a way to hit GSoC
2013. All the best.

Upvoted Comment Share Thank Report 18 Nov, 2012
Gautam Bajaj, GSoC 12 Student.
Votes by Adnan Azmat, Suraj Menon, Misbah Ashraf, Vinay Neekhra, and 6 more.
I have given answer to similar question, may be that is of help to you :)
Google Summer of Code (GSoC): GSoc: How can a rookie, (no previous open
source and project coding experience) who starts learning and practicing code from
November 2012, get into the GSoC program (May 2013)?
If you are very specific to Python, you can search for all the Organizations working
in python and participated in 2012, here: Accepted organizations for Google
Summer of Code 2012 . Just type python in the tags column.
Go the the Organizations website and find out which project they are working on.
If you find any project interesting , try to communicate with the organization on how
you could help improve the project. There are various ways in which you can
communicate like IRC, Mailing lists etc.
Clone the project into your machine and start fixing bugs on the project. This way
you'll have very clear understanding of the codebase.
In case, you cannot find any project that interest you too much but you have an
idea, try to find an Organization that works in the same field. Most Organizations
are open to suggestions.
When students application period start , write a proposal which clear and precisely
explains what you are going to improve/implement in the summer and how you are
going to achieve that.

Upvoted Comment Share Thank Report 1 Dec, 2012
Vaidik Kapoor, Google Summer of Code 2011 Student
Votes by Adnan Azmat, Siddharth Shah, Hardik Juneja, Rahul Gaur, and 2 more.
I have answered this question before through a mail on a LUG mailing list. I think it
might be useful.
[FSFTN] Fwd: [LUG at IITD:15398] Fwd: [JIITU-LUG:1694] Google Summer of Code
2012

Vikram Kamath, n00b extraordinaire
Votes by Adnan Azmat, Nilesh Govindrajan, Ravi Tandon, Nimesh Ghelani, and 18
more.
Disclaimer: I'm not a GSoC-er but I did try last year and I'm going to take a shot
this year too.
From my preparation last year and from conversations that I've had with people have
have gotten in, I've learned the following.
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Upvoted 1 Comment Share Thank Report 17 Nov, 2012
1. Choose a project - something that is in line with what you're interested in and
one that you know you will end up being a contributor to , long after GSoC is over.
2. Download the Source Code - build the project from source
3. Join the project mailing list(s) - That's usually where a lot of the action is.
Topics usually range from questions about usage and code to talk about feature
additions (that's probably what you're going to be most interested in).
4. Hang out on IRC - Most GSoC organizations have pretty active IRC Channels.
IRC is usually more informal than the mailling lists so a noobish question will be
forgiven quite easily.
5. Google Before Asking (or, RTFM) - Make sure that the questions you have
aren't already answered on a blog or the project documentation.
6. Start with bug triage or write small patches - most projects have tagged
bugs. The bugs you should be looking for usually have the tag 'good first bug'.
Writing patches and fixing bugs is one of the best ways to earn reputation and trust
in the community.
7. Talk to developers and maintainers about any proposals you have, its
feasibility etc.
8. Ensure that you've completed your proposal weeks in advance and give the
community/mentors enough time to correct it or make suggestions. Proposals
usually go back and forth a good number of times before they're accepted by the
community.
If anybody thinks some of what I've said is incorrect, please suggest an edit.

Via Nilesh Govindrajan.
Upvote Comment Share (1) Thank Report 18 Nov, 2012
Nitish Upreti, GSoC 2012 student with Berkman Center for Internet and
Society, Harvard.
Votes by Ravi Tandon, Raghunandan Vishwam, Jay Rambhia, Shobhit Gupta, and 2
more.
I have written an article for LinuxForYou on how to crack GSoC. Here is a blog post
with a digital copy of the article:
LinuxForYou article on GSoC (Google Summer of Code)

Upvote Comment Share Thank Report 18 Nov, 2012
Jacque Swartz, improving UX with innovative data manipulation and
representation.
Votes by Nilesh Govindrajan, Paulo Santos, Darshak Parikh, and AnmolSher Singh
Bedi.
You nailed it Vikram. My only enhancement is to stress the value of a mentor who
is willing to help you up the learning curve. The best is someone you can meet with
to do some whiteboard work.
Be sure they're a true mentor and not a friend who just gives you the answers.
Mentors will often say "have you considered...." Non-mentors will often say "use
x..." or "do x..." without making you think it through.

Adnan Azmat Edi t Bi o Make Anonymous
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