Tag Archives: student programs

Google Summer of Code: Being Happy While Working is Possible

GSoC Experience Series

I am proud to have been part of GSoC 2019, which was without a doubt, a motivating experience that gives strength to continue improving and working in open source. I participated with the project: New rules for the Topology Framework in gvSIG Desktop, and received mentoring by the OSGeo organization and gvSIG association. Being a part of this project has been one of the best experiences I have had—from a professional point of view and because the freedom the mentors gave me to work and the interaction with the community, allowed me to enjoy the environment while learning simultaneously. Achieving the objectives was a challenge but thanks to the motivation and support it was possible.

With the project it was possible to implement a new set of topology rules for the validation and correction of vector data sets, which improve and extend the characteristics of previously existing tools in gvSIG. These tools allow browsing, searching and correcting validation errors. With the rules implementation are automated tasks, allowing to reduce errors and eliminating repetitive tasks. For more information, you can read the final report or the repository with all the documentation of the project documentation is available in English, Spanish and Italian.

What I love about this project is working on time optimization—perhaps the most precious and scarce resource—The user is allowed to focus on logic to be solved, leaving aside repetitive tasks and optimizing the use of time.

Defining rule implementation: “Must be Coincident with”


Rule “Must be Coincident with” working to find the topological errors.

Beyond the technical contribution, what gave me the most value is the spirit of the program that allows you to work professionally, and through a motivating context really allows you to enjoy the process and this enhances the results. It was essential that as the project progressed the mentors were transparent and allowed me to work with more freedom; their trust and the community interaction was of great importance.

It has been a great experience and I appreciate the opportunity to participate in a project with these characteristics, which also helps optimize the use of time. I encourage anyone who is interested in adding value in any area of open source to participate in GSoC, don’t hesitate due to your age.

By Mauro Carlevaro

It Really is a Great Learning Experience

GSoC Student Experience Series

Nearly a month ago the official results for Google Summer of Code 2019 were announced, and I am happy to say I successfully completed the program with OpenStreetMap working on the 3D renderer OSM2World.

Before even applying, when I was searching for information on it most of the resources I was able to find included the same phrase: "It is a great learning experience!"

Being the almost-graduate Computer Science student I was, I had the inaccurate impression of thinking I knew enough skills and doubted what it could really offer me—in terms of expanding knowledge, as I had decided on a (Java) project I would apply to (a language I already knew).

Long story short, here is what "it is a great learning experience" translated into for me when it came to programming practices:

  • Always think about cases besides the "happy path": CS students/learners may agree with me here: Practice-projects do not always require making the application tolerant towards wrong input one can provide. That is not the case for a large scale application, though, as one unpredicted NullPointer exception derived from one tiny part of the input file (in my case) can have a user scratching their head for hours or not find the root of the problem, which in many cases is not where the error log indicates; in addition to their work not being done due to the unexpected crash. Which leads me to the 2nd point that I learned the hard way.
  • Make unit testing an integral part of coding routine: Yes, this, as well as other points listed here, might seem obvious to most but until recently, it was not to me. And being known as one of the less interesting tasks to perform when coding definitely doesn't help unit tests place high on programmer's "favorite things to do" lists. However, tests can most of the time detect unintended "features" other than just wrong method output, like the unexpected crashes mentioned above. So it is pretty much always better to create them soon after writing your new method rather than waiting before the end of a deadline.
  • Add elements of Functional Programming to object-oriented thinking, with the most important elements to me being those of immutable types and side-effect free methods (i.e. methods that do not modify variable values outside their local environment). I only understood the importance of that myself when I was suddenly able to make use of such methods I wrote for previous tasks, for the latest ones. And that was due to the fact that I was instructed to write them that way, without knowing beforehand they would come in handy again.

This list could probably have a few more points added, it was a 3-month long program after all, but for me those are the ones that definitely deserve their spot here. And of course the above would not have been possible without my mentor's... mentoring! Instructing someone on what to do and allow them to discover the benefits of the advice on their own, in addition to providing any necessary explanations, is definitely a way to help someone adopt practices for a lifetime! It is safe to say that the whole GSoC experience would have been different, should things have been different.

For anyone that might be interested, here is the application document I submitted as well as the final project!

By Jason Manoloudis, OpenStreetMap GSoC Student

Google Code-in 2019 Org Applications are Open!

We are now accepting applications for open source organizations interested in participating in the tenth Google Code-in 2019. Google Code-in (GCI) has invited pre-university students ages 13-17 to learn hands-on by contributing to open source software.

Each year we have heard inspiring stories from the participating mentors about their commitment to working with young students. We only select organizations that have participated in Google Summer of Code because they have gained experience in mentorship and know how to provide a support system for these new, young contributors.

Organization applications are now open and all interested open source organizations must apply before Monday, October 28, 2019 at 17:00 UTC.

In 2018, 27 organizations were accepted—9 of which were participating in GCI for the first time! Over the last 9 years, 11,232 students from 108 countries have completed more than 40,000 tasks for participating open source projects. Tasks fall into 5 categories:
  • Code: writing or refactoring.
  • Documentation/Training: creating/editing documents and helping others learn more.
  • Outreach/Research: community management, outreach/marketing, or studying problems and recommending solutions.
  • Quality Assurance: testing and ensuring code is of high quality.
  • Design: graphic design or user interface design.
Once an organization is selected for Google Code-in 2019 they will define these tasks and recruit mentors from their communities who are interested in providing online support for students during the seven week contest.

You can find a timeline, FAQ and other information about Google Code-in on our website. If you’re an educator interested in sharing Google Code-in with your students, please see the resources here.

By Radha Jhatakia, Google Open Source

Google Summer of Code 2019 (Statistics Part 2)

2019 has been an epic year for Google Summer of Code as we celebrated 15 years of connecting university students from around the globe with 201 open source organizations big and small.

We want to congratulate our 1,134 students that complete GSoC 2019. Great work everyone!

Now that GSoC 2019 is over we would like to wrap up the program with some more statistics to round out the year.

Student Registrations

We had 30,922 students from 148 countries register for GSoC 2019 (that’s a 19.5% increase in registrations over last year, the previous record). Interest in GSoC clearly continues to grow and we’re excited to see it growing in all parts of the world.

For the first time ever we had students register from Bhutan, Fiji, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan, and Swaziland.

Universities

The 1,276 students accepted into the GSoC 2019 program hailed from 6586 universities, of which, 164 have students participating for the first time in GSoC.

Schools with the most accepted students for GSoC 2019:

University # of Accepted Students
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee48
International Institute of Information Technology - Hyderabad29
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani)27
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU Dwarka)20
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur19
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur19
Amrita University / Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham14
Delhi Technological University11
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay11
Indraprastha Institute of Information and Technology, New Delhi11

Mentors

Each year we pore over gobs of data to extract some interesting statistics about the GSoC mentors. Here’s a quick synopsis of our 2019 crew:
  • Registered mentors: 2,815
  • Mentors with assigned student projects: 2,066
  • Mentors who have participated in GSoC for 10 or more years: 70
  • Mentors who have been a part of GSoC for 5 years or more: 307
  • Mentors that are former GSoC students: 691
  • Mentors that have also been involved in the Google Code-in program: 498
  • Percentage of new mentors: 35.84%
GSoC 2019 mentors are from all parts of the world, representing 81 countries!

Every year thousands of GSoC mentors help introduce the next generation to the world of open source software development—for that we are forever grateful. We can not stress enough that without our invaluable mentors the GSoC program would not exist. Mentorship is why GSoC has remained strong for 15 years, the relationships built between students and mentors have helped sustain the program and many of these communities. Sharing their passion for open source, our mentors have paved the road for generations of contributors to enter open source development.

Thank you to all of our mentors, organization administrators, and all of the “unofficial” mentors that help in our open source organization’s communities. Google Summer of Code is a community effort and we appreciate each and every one of you.

By Stephanie Taylor, Google Open Source

Google Code-in 2019 is Right Around the Corner!

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Google Code-in (GCI) contest! Students ages 13–17, globally, can learn about open source development by working on real projects, with mentorship from active developers. GCI begins on December 2, 2019 and runs for seven weeks, ending January 23, 2020.

Google Code-in is unique because students have the autonomy to select what they’re interested in working on from 2,500+ tasks created by open source organizations, all while having mentors available to answer questions as they work on tasks.

There are many questions that developers of any age ask themselves when they initially get involved in open source; from where to start to whether they have the expertise to truly support the organization. The beauty of GCI lies in the participating open source organizations who realize teens are often first time contributors, leading mentors who volunteer to come prepared with the patience and experience to help these newcomers join the open source community.
New contributors bring fresh perspectives, ideas, and enthusiasm into their open source communities, helping them thrive. Throughout the last 9 years, 58 GCI organizations helped 11,000 students from 108 countries make real contributions to open source projects; and to this day may of those students continue to participate in various open source communities and many have become mentors themselves! Some have even gone on to join Google Summer of Code (GSoC).

Contest participants work on a varied level of tasks that require anywhere from beginner to advanced skills in the following five categories:
  • Code: writing or refactoring
  • Documentation/Training: creating/editing documents and helping others learn more
  • Outreach/Research: community management, marketing, or studying problems and recommending solutions
  • Quality Assurance: testing and ensuring code is of high quality
  • Design: graphic design or user interface design
Organizations that are interested in mentoring students, can apply for Google Code-in beginning Thursday, October 10th. Google Code-in starts for students Monday, December 2nd!
Visit the contest site g.co/gci to learn more about the contest and find flyers, slide decks, timelines, and more.

By Radha Jhatakia, Google Open Source

That’s a Wrap for Google Summer of Code 2019

As the 15th year of Google Summer of Code (GSoC) comes to a close, we are pleased to announce that 1,134 students from 61 countries have successfully completed the 2019 program. Congratulations to all of our students and mentors who made this summer’s program so memorable!

Throughout the last 12 weeks, the GSoC students worked eagerly with 201 open source organizations and over 2,000 mentors from 72 countries—learning to work virtually on teams and developing complex pieces of code. The student projects are now public so feel free to take a look at the amazing efforts they put in over the summer.

Many open source communities rely on new perspectives and talent to keep their projects thriving and without student contributions like these, they wouldn’t be able to grow their communities; GSoC students assist in redesigning and enhancing these organizations’ codebases sometimes as first-time contributors not only to the project but to open source! This is just the beginning for GSoC students—many go on to become future mentors and even more become long-term committers and some will start their own open source projects in the years to come

And last but not least, we would like to thank the mentors and organization administrators who make GSoC possible. Their dedication to welcoming new student contributors into their communities is inspiring and vital to grow the open source community. Thank you all!

Developer Student Clubs – Apply to be a Lead today. Deadline extended to June 15!

Posted by Erica Hanson, Google Developer Relations

This spring, Google and Developer Student Clubs are looking for new passionate student leaders from universities across the globe!

Developer Student Clubs is a program with Google Developers. Through in-person meetups, university students are empowered to learn together and use technology to solve real life problems with local businesses and start-ups.

Less than two years ago, DSC launched in parts of Asia and Africa where 90,000+ students have been trained on Google technologies; 500+ solutions built for 200+ local startups and organizations and 170+ clubs participated in our first Solution Challenge!

computer shot from up top

Bridging the gap between theory and practical application, Google aims to provide student developers with the resources, opportunities and the experience necessary to be more industry ready.

computer

You may be wondering what the benefit of being a Developer Student Club Lead is? Well, here are a few reasons:

  • Help students grow as developers
  • Gain access to Google technology and platforms at no cost
  • Build prototypes and solutions for local problems
  • Participate in a global developer competition
  • Get invitations to select Google events and conferences
  • Be recognized as a collaborator with Google Developers

Apply to be a Developer Student Club Lead at g.co/dev/dsc.

Deadline to submit applications has been extended to June 15th.

Accepting student applications for Google Summer of Code 2019

We are now accepting applications from university students who want to participate in Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2019. Want to hone your software development skills while doing good for the open source community?

This year we are celebrating 15 years of introducing university students from around the world to open source software communities and our passionate community of mentors. For 3three months students code from the comfort of their homes and receive stipends based on thefor successful completion of their project milestones.

Past participants say the real-world experience that GSoC provides sharpened their technical skills, boosted their confidence, expanded their professional network and enhanced their resume.

Interested students can submit proposals on the program site between now and Tuesday, April 9, 2019 at 18:00 UTC.

While many students began preparing in late February when we announced the 200+ participating open source organizations, it’s not too late for you to start! The first step is to browse the list of organizations and look for project ideas that appeal to you. Next, reach out to the organization to introduce yourself and determine if your skills and interests are a good fit. Since spots are limited, we recommend writing a strong proposal and submitting a draft early so you can get feedback from the organization and increase the odds of being selected.

You can learn more about how to prepare by watching the video below and checking out the Student Guide and Advice for Students.


You can find more information on our website, including a full timeline of important dates. We also highly recommend reviewing the FAQ and Program Rules.

Remember to submit your proposals early as you only have until Tuesday, April 9 at 18:00 UTC. Good luck to all who apply!

By Stephanie Taylor, Google Open Source

And the Google Summer of Code 2019 mentor organizations are…

We are excited to announce the open source projects and organizations that have been accepted for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2019, the 15th year of the program! As usual, we received more applications this year than we did last year, about twice as many as we are able to accept into the program.

After careful review, we have chosen 207 open source projects to be mentor organizations this year, 28 of which are new to the program. Please see the program website for a complete list of the accepted organizations.

Are you a student interested in participating? We begin accepting student applications on Monday, March 25, 2019 at 18:00 UTC and the deadline to apply is Tuesday, April 9, 2019 at 18:00 UTC.

The most successful applications come from students who start preparing now. You can start by watching the short video below, checking out the Student Guide, and reviewing the list of accepted organizations and reaching out to the 2 or 3 that interest you the most now - before the application period begins.


You can find more information on our website, including a full timeline of important dates. We also highly recommend perusing the FAQ and Program Rules and watching the short videos with more details about GSoC for students and mentors.

A hearty congratulations–and thank you–to all of our mentor organizations! We look forward to working with all of you during Google Summer of Code 2019.

By Stephanie Taylor, Google Open Source

Seeking open source projects for Google Summer of Code 2019

Do you lead or represent a free or open source software organization? Are you seeking new contributors? (Who isn’t?) Do you enjoy the challenge and reward of mentoring new developers? Apply to be a mentor organization for Google Summer of Code 2019!

We are searching for open source projects and organizations to participate in the 15th annual Google Summer of Code (GSoC). GSoC is a global program that draws university student developers from around the world to contribute to open source. Each student spends three months working on a coding project, with the support of volunteer mentors, for participating open source organizations from late May to August.

Last year 1,264 students worked with 206 open source organizations. Organizations include individual smaller and medium sized open source projects as well as a number of umbrella organizations with many sub-projects under them (Python Software Foundation, CERN, Apache Software Foundation).

You can apply to be a mentoring organization for GSoC starting today. The deadline to apply is February 6 at 20:00 UTC. Organizations chosen for GSoC 2019 will be publicly announced on February 26.

Please visit the program site for more information on how to apply and review the detailed timeline of important deadlines. We also encourage you to check out the Mentor Guide and our short video on why open source projects choose to apply to be a part of the program.

Best of luck to all of the project applicants!

By Stephanie Taylor, Google Open Source