Ask HN: How should one start working on an open source project on GitHub?

5 points by ziyadparekh 11 years ago | 1 comment

I want to start contributing to an open source project but its already so mature and I son't really know where to begin digesting the source code. How do you guys do it?

knowledgesale 11 years ago |

Start by reading the open issues, choose one you want to tackle and try fixing it. Code structure can be confusing and hard to understand, consider contacting contributors and asking them questions you have. Rinse, repeat.

Another good idea is to browse through the closed PRs, including the code's diff tab. Communication there has evidence on how friendly and helpful the maintainers are, what are some easy contributions you can make and so on.