Learning Git is an essential skill in software development.
The increasing popularity of open-source software has led to Git’s success.
Git plays a vital role in most open-source projects.
The Relationship Between Git and Open-Source
Git is a version control software widely used in development.
Take an in-depth look at Git in ouradvanced Git tutorial.
Git is also an open-source project that contributors have worked on to improve over time.
Open-source software is generally free for anyone to use.
Open-source contributions happen in a public and collaborative manner, also known as Building in Public.
Learn more about the difference betweenopen-source and closed-source software.
Git has collaborative features that are essential in open source.
Git enables teams to collaboratively maintain projects.
It lets you fetch code, add contributions on your local machine, and submit your changes for review.
Git Features Used in Open-Source
Git has several commands used to perform operations on its interface.
We will use Git as the local repository and GitHub as the remote repository.
Here is how you get started.
Pick a Project
Identify a suitable project to contribute to.
Your skills and passion for making a difference will determine which project you pick.
you’re able to contribute a feature, documentation, or skills such as product management.
The right project will have an active community on social channels such as Slack or Twitter.
Its repository should have regular contributions and proper licensing for open-source software.
You will most likely find the contributors guide in the root folder of the project.
The contributors guide will help you understand the project’s workflow and reduce merge conflicts.
If you don’t adhere to these contributors guidelines, a maintainer may reject yourpull request.
Here’s an example of a contributors guide from theAsyncAPIproject.
Pick an Issue
Anissuecan be anything you would like to contribute to.
before you kick off working on anissue, first inquire about or discuss theissuewith the maintainers.
Sometimes it could be a stale issue or one that another contributor is already working on.
This is what the issues section on GitHub looks like:
4.
Forking will get you a copy of the parent repository to your repository.
You will clone the repository into your local machine with thegit clone command.
you’ve got the option to pop launch the folder on your preferred code editor and start working.
Use the following steps to configure the fork and submit it for review.
Reviews and Merging
After submitting the PR, the maintainers will likely review and suggest changes.
it’s possible for you to make local changes orcommitthe proposed changes on the remote repository.
GitHub has a provision tocommitchanges remotely.
During the review, you will receive feedback on your contribution and can seek clarification on some matters.
Commits will notify the maintainers to review your work again.
If all checks pass, your PR will be quickly merged.
You have just made your first contribution to an open-source project.
Git Enhances Open-Source Collaboration
Git plays an essential role in open-source contributions.
Git enables big and small projects to track contributions manage teams, and host various versions of source codes.
As an open-source project itself, Git has enhanced the quality and quantity of contributions to open-source software.
Go ahead and get started!
