My Hacktoberfest 2024 Journey

This is a submission for the 2024 Hacktoberfest Writing challenge: Contributor Experience

Hello, Dev community! 👋 I’m Aditya More, and this year I participated in Hacktoberfest for the first time. I want to share my journey—from figuring out GitHub basics to contributing to real-world projects. Hacktoberfest was a roller-coaster ride of learning, connecting with the open-source community, and growing my skills.

Why I Joined Hacktoberfest 2024?

I’d heard about open-source contributions before but never had the courage to start. Hacktoberfest seemed like the perfect entry point, with the excitement of a global event and the support from thousands of contributors. My goal was simple: to learn something new and make my first contribution to open source.

The First Steps: Setting Up My Environment

My first task was setting up Git and GitHub. I went through a few tutorials and practiced basic Git commands, such as clone, add, commit, and push. This foundational knowledge helped me feel more comfortable when interacting with repositories.

Pro tip: If you're new, try using GitHub Desktop or VS Code’s built-in Git tools for a friendlier start.

Finding the Right Projects

I didn’t want to get overwhelmed, so I started by filtering issues labeled "good first issue" and "Hacktoberfest." I also looked for projects in technologies I’m familiar with, like Python and Android. Some helpful platforms I used to find these projects included GitHub, the official Hacktoberfest site, and communities on Discord.

Advice: Don’t just pick projects for the sake of contributions—choose ones that genuinely interest you. This makes the experience much more rewarding!

My Contributions: What I Worked On

I contributed to a important project this year:

Kestra-docs : I was able to successfully make one merge this Hacktoberfest, which was a big milestone for me. Although it was only a single contribution, the process of working through issues, making changes, and finally getting merged was incredibly rewarding. It gave me real insight into the workflows of open-source projects.

Challenges I Faced and How I Overcame Them

Like any beginner, I hit a few roadblocks along the way:

Understanding the Codebase: Some projects had complex codebases, making it tough to know where to start. Reading the README and documentation carefully helped a lot.

Making the First PR: My first pull request took longer than I expected, but I learned to make smaller, incremental changes to make it manageable.

Handling Feedback: Some maintainers suggested changes, which was initially nerve-wracking but became a learning experience. It showed me how important it is to write clean, readable code.

Lessons Learned

Hacktoberfest taught me that open source is not just about coding—it’s about collaboration, learning, and giving back to the community. Here’s what I took away from the experience:

• Never Underestimate Documentation: Writing clear documentation is as valuable as coding.

• Communication is Key: Don’t hesitate to ask questions or clarify things. The open-source community is super welcoming and supportive.

• Be Consistent: Small contributions are just as impactful as big ones, especially when starting.

Advice for First-Time Contributors

For anyone considering joining Hacktoberfest in the future, here’s what I’d suggest:

• Start small with documentation or minor bug fixes.
• Engage with project maintainers and other contributors. It builds your network and helps you understand the project's needs.
• Celebrate each contribution, no matter how small. Every PR builds confidence and skill.

Wrapping Up: The Hacktoberfest Impact

Hacktoberfest 2024 was a stepping stone into open source for me. The experience made me feel part of something bigger, and it’s just the beginning. Now, I feel more confident in my skills and more motivated to contribute regularly to open-source projects.

Thank you, Hacktoberfest, and the open-source community, for this incredible journey! My Github