Sunday, April 22, 2018

It's only a beginning

What have I learned for the past 8 months of Open Source Programming?

I was convinced from the very beginning that this course would be important for my career, experience and learning process. But at the same time I was scared: what can I do for a large project in a hype technology company? Am I smart enough? Do I have enough knowledge?

The first thing that I learned is how to feel confident. Before this course when I was getting a new task/assignment either in school or at work, I was stressing out. But now the first thought that pops into my head is "I can do it". Open Source taught me that I didn't have to know everything. In fact nobody can know everything, it is just impossible. The question really is where can I find needed resources? With Google and Stackoverflow (God bless the person who had that amazing idea to connect the community) there is nothing to stress about, everything can be found online.

Another thing that I have learned: programmer is not a person who sits somewhere alone an just comes up with brilliant ideas, it's a community where ideas from hundreds of people are combined and strong software is built. You are not supposed to be scared to ask for help if you need it. Sometimes that one small push/line/idea would start the thought process and another idea would be born.

All those conclusions sound so obvious, but it's so hard to actually believe in that and experience that happiness of being connected with other people or an opportunity to ask for help, if you need it.
I am grateful to Open Source course in Seneca, that showed me the other way software may be built, the way how to stand out from the crowd, how to keep up with new trends in technology and how to be a part of a massive community around the world. Sometimes open source leads to getting a job and it always leads to getting a valuable experience and brushing up your skills. Your Github profile is a real time resume and it really shows that programming is your passion or at least something you enjoy to do in your free time.

I am amazed by how much my personality was changed and how I became more confident as a programmer. I am also not that anxious when I don't have an answer for another question from my manager.

It's not the end of my Open Source "career" for sure, I will still contribute to Mozilla Addons-Frontend project since I enjoy it so much. I think that open source is a great place to maintain your current skills and gain new ones. I am happy that I had the opportunity to learn that Github is so much more than just a version control tool! It is such a trill to see another email notification from the Github, I suddenly am important.





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It's only a beginning

What have I learned for the past 8 months of Open Source Programming? I was convinced from the very beginning that this course would be i...