Nearly every developer relies on open-source software daily, but far fewer ever contribute back to it. This course, taught by James Pearce, the former Open Source Program Manager at Meta and the maintainer of his own major open-source project, is built to close that gap.
Getting oriented
You'll start with the terminology that comes up constantly in open source — projects, repositories, issues, pull requests — and understand why contributing matters both for the industry and for you personally.
Finding where to contribute
With so many projects and organizations involved in open source, picking a starting point can be the hardest part. The course walks through practical ways to narrow it down: starting with tools you already use (sometimes without realizing they're open source), identifying companies actively investing in open-source work, and assessing whether a given project is worth your time before diving in.
Reading and contributing code
You'll pick up methods for getting oriented in a large, unfamiliar codebase — understanding its core modules and its social norms — along with a recommended process for making changes and submitting commits that are likely to get reviewed quickly and build trust with a project's maintainers.
