searching a project to contribute to

[Clint Norton]

Hi all,
I'm a student currently in the beginning of my master's degree and
I'm searching for an interesting open source project written in Python
to contribute to.
I have worked as a programmer for the past few years (mostly in
academia but also as a typical full time code monkey in a commercial
company), some of it in python, some in Java (commercial companies
really seem to like Java).
Anyway, which python projects would be a good start? I generally
like working on algorithmic parts or "Business Logic" and really don't
like doing interface work. The software I like producing has a tendency
to make use of the random and/or math modules, if that says something
about the nature of the work I've done... I really want to give
something back to the community I've taken so much from in the past.

Thanks in advance.

[Mike Meyer]

"Clint Norton" <Id*********@gmail.com> writes:

Hi all,
I'm a student currently in the beginning of my master's degree and
I'm searching for an interesting open source project written in Python
to contribute to.
I have worked as a programmer for the past few years (mostly in
academia but also as a typical full time code monkey in a commercial
company), some of it in python, some in Java (commercial companies
really seem to like Java).
Anyway, which python projects would be a good start? I generally
like working on algorithmic parts or "Business Logic" and really don't
like doing interface work. The software I like producing has a tendency
to make use of the random and/or math modules, if that says something
about the nature of the work I've done... I really want to give
something back to the community I've taken so much from in the past.

Well, if there's some software you use on a regular basis, that's a
good start. Python itself is a candidate. If the goal is just to
contribute, start going through the bugs database, and see if you can
contribute patches that fix some of the reporrted bugs.

<mike
--
Mike Meyer <mw*@mired.org> http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/
Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information.

[Clint Norton]

Well,
I though about it but I'm looking for something a little more
interesting then bug fixing...
Anyway, wouldn't it be to difficult to get into a huge project like
python itself? Wouldn't it be a better idea to walk into a project that
only have a few developers in it?
I was thinking of the mozilla calender project (which is usfull and
i think is the smallest mozilla project) but I'm not really into c++.
Maybe I should take a look at some of the modules I've used and see if
I can help there.

Thanks,
CN

[Peter Decker]

On 9 Oct 2005 18:16:32 -0700, Clint Norton <Id*********@gmail.com> wrote:

Well,
I though about it but I'm looking for something a little more
interesting then bug fixing...
Anyway, wouldn't it be to difficult to get into a huge project like
python itself? Wouldn't it be a better idea to walk into a project that
only have a few developers in it?

Don't know if you have any interest in desktop applications, but there
is a project named Dabo that is the sole work of two guys. It is a
complete desktop application framework, designed to build apps to work
with any sort of databases. I use it mostly for the excellent job they
have done wrapping wxPython.

They are working on developing a set of tools to aid in GUI
development, such as a form designer, and I'm sure that they would
welcome the help of any competent developer.
--

# p.d.

[Mike Meyer]

"Clint Norton" <Id*********@gmail.com> writes:

Well,
I though about it but I'm looking for something a little more
interesting then bug fixing...
Bug fixing is an easy way to start learning the code and providing an
immediate contribution to the project. As for interesting - you gotta
pick the right buggs :-).
Anyway, wouldn't it be to difficult to get into a huge project like
python itself? Wouldn't it be a better idea to walk into a project that
only have a few developers in it?
Depends on what you mean by "get into". Learning your way around part
of the project is going to be the same no matter how big the project
is, though the parts may be smaller. Becoming a contributor is going
to be about the same no matter how big the project is - most project
will accept patches from pretty much anyone. Becoming a key figure in
the project - yeah, that's harder for larger projects. I can't really
help with that.
I was thinking of the mozilla calender project (which is usfull and
i think is the smallest mozilla project) but I'm not really into c++.
Maybe I should take a look at some of the modules I've used and see if
I can help there.

How does that relate to comp.lang.python (as if I'm one to complain
about off-topic posts here...)?

<mike
--
Mike Meyer <mw*@mired.org> http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/
Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information.

[Clint Norton]

Well, I meant python modules offcourse ;-)

[Robert Kern]

Clint Norton wrote:

Hi all,
I'm a student currently in the beginning of my master's degree and
I'm searching for an interesting open source project written in Python
to contribute to.
I have worked as a programmer for the past few years (mostly in
academia but also as a typical full time code monkey in a commercial
company), some of it in python, some in Java (commercial companies
really seem to like Java).
Anyway, which python projects would be a good start? I generally
like working on algorithmic parts or "Business Logic" and really don't
like doing interface work. The software I like producing has a tendency
to make use of the random and/or math modules, if that says something
about the nature of the work I've done... I really want to give
something back to the community I've taken so much from in the past.

We could always use more algorithms in scipy. scipy is a large, fairly
loose collection of numerical algorithms. Currently we're in a
transitional period; we're moving over to the new array object (yes,
another one), so the website is a bit out of date. Fortunately, scipy is
loose enough that you could simply jump in and implement a new algorithm
without needing to concern yourself much with the rest of the library. I
suggest poking around the latest SVN branches (listed below) to get a
feel of what's already in there, and then introducing yourself on the
scipy-dev list. I can give you more direct advice about what's missing
and what we would like to include.

http://scipy.org/
http://scipy.net/mailman/listinfo/scipy-dev
http://svn.scipy.org/svn/scipy_core/branches/newcore/
http://svn.scipy.org/svn/scipy/branches/newscipy/

--
Robert Kern
rk***@ucsd.edu

"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
-- Richard Harter

[Scott David Daniels]

Mike Meyer wrote:

Well, if there's some software you use on a regular basis, that's a
good start. Python itself is a candidate. If the goal is just to
contribute, start going through the bugs database, and see if you can
contribute patches that fix some of the reporrted bugs.

That's excellent advice. Maybe some bug in there sounds interesting.
Also, you could review some of the submitted patches in areas you
find interesting (leading you to the mystical 5 reviews that help
get your patches reviewed). It is a slightly gentle introduction
to the process, and reviewing a patch can be thought of a getting
a mini guided tour.

--Scott David Daniels
sc***********@acm.org