What I learnt from Hacktoberfest 2024

Introduction

In this blog post, I’d like to share my experiences from Hacktoberfest 2024 and reflect on what this incredible event means to me. I began my journey into Hacktoberfest as a complete newbie, and while I still consider myself a beginner, this October taught me invaluable lessons about contributing to open source projects.

Projects I worked on

Here is a summary of what I did to complete Hacktoberfest:

Issues

Pull Requests

Blog Posts

Learning outcomes

Mastering Git in a Professional Setting

This month, my most significant learning outcome was mastering the use of Git in a professional environment. I discovered that many projects have unique commit guidelines that can vary widely. Some key takeaways include:

Rebasing vs. Squashing: I learned the differences between rebasing and squashing commits, which are essential for maintaining a clean project history.
Commit Message Conventions: Different projects require specific formats for commit messages, which helps in tracking changes more effectively.
Additional Features: I also explored various Git features, such as:
- Stashing to temporarily save changes while switching branches.
- Interactive rebase for editing commit history.

Progress Through Diversity

Working on both big and small projects gave me a sense of progress and accomplishment. Initially, I had little knowledge about open source contributions. Even though my changes were minor, I interacted with many experienced contributors, including some difficult personalities. I realized that large projects often utilize a variety of tools for local development and testing, many of which I was previously unaware of.

Building Confidence and Community Engagement

One of the most valuable lessons I learned is to not be shy about seeking help from others. I was surprised at how supportive communities can be, which helped me navigate through challenges. There were times when I felt incapable of running projects locally due to numerous setup issues. However, I gained confidence as I persevered through these obstacles.

Asking for Help: Timely questions and requests for assistance can significantly ease the process.
Perseverance: Persistence is crucial; even when the setup seemed daunting, I learned that with enough effort, everything eventually fell into place.

Conclusion

Throughout the event, I felt a genuine sense of belonging within the developer community. I'm especially grateful to all the wonderful individuals who offered their guidance and support in every project I joined. Although the bugs I fixed were small and mostly related to React features, frontend enhancements, and minor typo corrections, I now feel a deep appreciation for open source and am excited to contribute to more complex projects in the future.

My enthusiasm for open source has led me to create an OpenSauced profile, which you can view here.

I also received the Level 4 badge from Hacktoberfest, meaning I successfully completed four pull requests during this event. Below, you’ll find my Hacktoberfest completion email too.

Hacktoberfest 2024: Level 4

I truly believe that open source is all about engineers collaborating. It showcases the beauty of people coming together to create something meaningful, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, or who they are. In a world often filled with divisions and conflicts, it’s inspiring to see individuals from different parts of the globe working hand in hand to build solutions that matter.

I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in Hacktoberfest this year and look forward to returning next year. There are many more contributions in store before then, and I can't wait to dive deeper into the open source community!