Why computing students should contribute to open source software projects
Channel: Diomidis Spinellis
Date: 2022-01-07

Programming proficiency on its own is neither representative of the skills that the marketplace requires from computing graduates, nor does it offer the strong vocational qualifications it once did. By contributing to open source projects, students acquire in practice a range of skills, knowledge, and experiences that can help them to work productively as modern well-rounded developers. Successful contributions can be achieved by carefully guiding students in corresponding assignments, controlling their expectations regarding what can be realistically contributed over a term, and assessing many facets of each contribution.

More details can be found the article published in the Communications of the ACM, 64(7):36–38, July 2021. DOI:10.1145/3437254 https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3437254