Open Source Projects For Beginners

Nascent developers can use open source projects as a great method to assimilate new techniques and master their skills and competence. These projects serve as a platform for developers from various levels of expertise who can come together to share and impart their dexterity. Following ahead, we shall take a look at some popular open-source projects for beginners, and what they can gain from those projects.

An open-source software keeps its source code readily available to all users for the purpose of modification, inspection, and enhancement. This is released under a license where the parent authority grants access to users for such alterations. There are several open-source projects offered by major companies where developers worldwide can come together and work in a collaborative environment.

Collaboration is the essence of open-source projects and there are numerous perspectives and dimensions to each aspect. It is a great way for beginners to learn since they can interact with a user of any level of experience while gradually making contributions as per their scale.

Key Summary

This article from InApps Technology, authored by Phu Nguyen, highlights the value of open source projects for beginner developers to learn new techniques, enhance skills, and collaborate with diverse communities. It explains why open source is ideal for novices and lists popular projects tailored for beginners, emphasizing their accessibility and learning potential. Key points include:

• Why Choose Open Source Projects:
  • Learning Environment: Offers a collaborative platform for developers of all levels to share expertise, improve code, and fix bugs.
  • Benefits for Beginners:
    • Skill Development: Learn from experts, refine coding skills, and progress in expertise.
    • Community Support: Access to extensive documentation and community assistance for troubleshooting.
    • Customization Freedom: Encourages innovation and personalized contributions.
    • Secure Code: Peer reviews by knowledgeable members ensure high-quality, error-free code.
  • Quote: “Collaboration is the essence of open-source projects… It is a great way for beginners to learn since they can interact with a user of any level of experience.”
• Top Open Source Projects for Beginners:
  • First Contributions:
    • Overview: A GitHub tutorial guiding users through the contribution workflow (fork > clone > edit > pull request).
    • Purpose: Simplifies the contribution process, with completion itself counting as a contribution.
    • Stats: Over 18.5k stars and 36.5k forks on GitHub.
  • TensorFlow Models:
    • Overview: Focused on machine learning, offering beginner-friendly tutorials and tasks to optimize high-level API performance.
    • Purpose: Encourages testing and updating for speed and readability, ideal for learning ML concepts.
    • Stats: Over 70k stars and 44.3k forks on GitHub.
  • Mozilla Projects:
    • Overview: Offers a wide range of projects, filterable via tools like Bugs Ahoy to match beginner interests.
    • Purpose: Provides diverse opportunities for contributions in a prominent open source community.
  • Zulip:
    • Overview: Open-source group chat software with beginner-friendly tasks in coding (code improvement) and non-coding (feedback, translation, issue reporting).
    • Purpose: Supports real-time messaging and server hosting, fostering versatile contributions.
  • DuckDuckGo:
    • Overview: A privacy-focused search engine needing contributions for instant answers.
    • Purpose: Offers robust documentation and community support (via GitHub wiki and Slack) for creating search results.
• Additional Platforms for Finding Projects:
  • GitHub: Extensive repository of projects (e.g., gaming engines, ML, code enhancement) via the Explore section.
  • Up for Grabs: Lists projects needing contributions, tagged with labels like “up for grabs” or “help wanted.”
  • CodeTriage: Delivers curated open source issues to users’ inboxes, balancing coding and non-coding tasks.
  • First Timers Only: Connects beginners with simple, labeled tasks for easy entry into open source.
• Takeaway:
  • Open source contributions help beginners hone programming skills, enhance technologies, build community connections, and develop teamwork abilities.
  • Steps to Start: Filter projects by interest, verify contribution guidelines, and begin with simple tasks.
  • Quote: “Beginners looking for open source contributions can greatly hone their programming abilities, enhance the technologies being used on a daily basis, interact with a huge developer community, and develop strong communication and teamwork skills.”
• InApps Insight:
  • Aligns with Microsoft’s Power Platform and Azure, leveraging Power Fx for low-code contributions and Azure Durable Functions for scalable project workflows.
  • InApps Technology integrates Node.js, Vue.js, GraphQL APIs (e.g., Apollo), and Azure to support open source development, targeting beginners and startups with Millennial-driven expectations for accessible, innovative learning platforms.

Why Opt For Open Source Projects

There are several reasons why open source projects are worth going for, especially when it comes to beginners. There is simply a lot to learn with minimum hassle. Members of an open-source community are driven towards code enhancement and bug fixing. The code is secure as there are several knowledgeable members to review and cross-check any type of errors and rectify them. There is immense documentation for easy installation as well.

Developers in an open-source community have the freedom of customization and coming up with their ideas. There is always going to be support available from the community in case of any complications. Newbies can learn from the experts, work on their coding skills, and gradually move up the hierarchical chain. This is probably the best reason why beginners should opt for open source.

Open Source Projects For Beginners

Following below are some popular open-source projects, but it is to consider that none can be placed above the other in terms of superiority. These projects are like an ocean of opportunities and all that beginners should do is just dive in. There is always the option to try out as many alternatives as required and then stick to one and advance forwards in it.

Here is the list of the best open source projects for beginners

First Contributions

This is a hands-on tutorial for GitHub users who are looking for making their initial contributions in the area of open source. Users are navigated through step-by-step instructions about the contributions workflow at GitHub. The completion of this lesson is itself a contribution to the project. Once this process is complete, users are directed towards several projects which they can take up as per their preference.

The project is inclined towards simplification and guidance for beginners. The users go through the standard fork> clone> edit> pull request procedure, which is often faced as a contributor. The project has over 18.5k stars and 36.5k forks on GitHub.

TensorFlow Models

Specifically designated towards Machine Learning, TensorFlow projects are based on the high-level API that requires timely testing and updating. At the beginner level, users can go through the tutorials and review some existing official projects before jumping into one. Since the community consists of users from each level, it is a great space for beginners to learn.

The projects are required to be optimized for fast performance and to be easy to read as well. These are used as end-to-end tests, making sure and speed and performance are improved with each build. Currently, it has over 70k stars and 44.3k forks on GitHub.

Mozilla Projects

Mozilla offers a huge range of open-source projects where learners can become a part of the community. Mozilla holds a dominant place in the open-source sphere and keeps coming up with projects where budding developers can freely make their contributions. There are so many projects on Mozilla that it actually becomes quite a task to pick one.

There are projects which are meant for beginners but still, they have to be filtered out. For this, there are tools and websites like Bugs Ahoy to scan through bug reports and filter out the project which is best suited to the interest of the learner.

Zulip

This open-source group chat software has grown exponentially over the past few years. There are several beginner-friendly tasks that this software provides for effective learning. Zulip provides the feature of real-time messaging and threaded discussion by running on an open-source platform.

There are tasks for both code-related as well as non-code activities. Users can either contribute code and work on its improvement, or indulge in other tasks like providing feedback on application improvement, translation, or reporting any kind of issues. Zulip allow provides to host and run Zulip servers, which can be operated on multiple platforms.

DuckDuckGo

This is actually a search engine, which is firmly based on search privacy and never keeps track of its users. The results are shown as instant answers rather than navigating users through various websites. This means that there is always a need for open-source contributions for instant answers. DuckDuckGo offers a fairly good amount of documentation to get started with contributions.

Users can create search results as they want and keep gaining exposure as open-source contributors simultaneously. Users can also access the DuckDuckGo wiki on GitHub or join the Slack channel for support of any kind.

Explore More Open Source Projects

GitHub

GitHub is probably the most well-known spot for all development enthusiasts for any type of support. Github has an extensive range of open-source projects which can be picked by developers of any experience level. The Github explore section will provide an infinite number of open-source projects to choose from, including gaming engines, machine learning, search engines, code enhancement, and whatnot.

Up for Grabs

This website accumulates and displays projects which require active participation and contributions. The labels on projects are mentioned as ‘up for grabs’, ‘jump in’, or ‘help wanted’. It is a great platform for joining a new project or simply sharing the load of an existing project in operation. Users can filter the projects by label, tags, and names.

CodeTriage

This platform picks a certain number of open source issues and directly drops them in the aspirant’s inbox. Once the user signs up and picks the repos as per preference, these types of open source issues will be dropped in periodically. The efficient algorithm also does not let the inbox get overwhelmed with issues and users can manage their projects quite well. The tasks involve a range of coding and non-coding activities.

First Timers Only

This website provides access to a number of resources for new developers looking to contribute to open-source projects. Open-source software owners can label their issues with first-timers-only, to gain contributions even from absolute beginners. The tasks and activities allotted to developers are quite simple and easy to grasp and perform.

The Takeaway

Beginners looking for Open source contributions can greatly hone their programming abilities, enhance the technologies being used on a daily basis, interact with a huge developer community, and develop strong communication and teamwork skills. Getting started with open source projects involves certain requisites like filtering out the projects matching with interests and checking for acceptable contributions. Once all criteria are met, you’re good to go and make your first contribution.