My First Open-Source Contribution Attempt (Java/Spring Boot)
Welcome to my first video documenting my journey to learn how to contribute to open-source systems and code!
In this video, I walk through the process of making my first open-source contribution attempt, focusing primarily on a Java-related project. I show you how I search GitHub for suitable projects, identify an issue, implement the fix, and handle the challenges of contributing to an active repository.
What We Cover in this Video:
• Finding a Project: We start by searching for Java-related projects on GitHub, ultimately finding an "awesome repo" dedicated to algorithms.
• Understanding Guidelines: I review the contribution guidelines to ensure I don't violate any project rules, learning about crucial steps like checking existing issues before reporting a bug or adding a feature.
• Identifying an Issue: I look through the issues section and select a task related to backend cleanup: "Improve replace all autobio with constructor injection". This is a task I knew I could handle.
• Implementation & Coding:
◦ We fork the repository and clone the code into IntelliJ IDEA.
◦ The project uses Maven and Java version 21.
◦ The core task involves replacing the use of the @AutoWired annotation with constructor injection. I demonstrate how to us @RequiredArgsConstructor and private final fields to achieve this.
◦ Finally, I commit and push the changes, ensuring imports are optimized.
• The Pull Request Dilemma: I encounter a common scenario where the issue was already assigned to someone else. I show how I used ChatGPT to help determine the best way to proceed—commenting on the issue rather than submitting a disruptive Pull Request (PR) immediately.
• Conclusion: The project owner responded, advising me to wait for the assigned contributor to submit their PR, suggesting I work on other issues in the meantime. This video concludes my first contribution attempt!
Technical Tools Used:
• Language: Java
• Framework: Spring Boot (the chosen issue involved backend logic, potentially microservices)
• Platform: GitHub
• IDE: IntelliJ Community Edition
If you enjoyed watching my open-source journey, please like and subscribe! Let me know in the comments if you have attempted a contribution or have tips for my next video.