DEV Community: Shwet Khatri

Join Hacktoberfest with Swetify-Music

Shwet Khatri — Sun, 08 Oct 2023 07:56:33 +0000

🚀 Exciting News for Open-Source Enthusiasts! 🚀

Hey everyone! 👋 This Hacktoberfest, I'm thrilled to announce that I'm opening up my project, 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲-𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜, to the open-source community. 🎶

🌟 What is Hacktoberfest ?
Hacktoberfest is a month-long celebration of open source, where developers from all around the world come together to contribute to open-source projects. It's the perfect opportunity for beginners to dive into software development and collaborate on meaningful projects. 🙌

Often, people ask me, "Where did you start your open-source journey?" and my answer has always been Hacktoberfest. 💙

Swetify-Music holds a special place in my heart because it's where I began my journey into web development three years ago. Now, I want to invite all of you, especially beginners, to join me in taking this project to new heights! 🌐

🌟 Why Contribute to Swetify-Music?
Swetify-Music is a beginner-friendly project that I built when I was learning the fundamentals of web development. If you search precisely, you'll find numerous bugs, opportunities for improvements, and exciting features to work on and contribute to open-source during this Hacktoberfest. Take your first step towards mastering web technologies and contributing to this real-world project. 💡

GitHub Repo: https://github.com/ShwetKhatri2001/Swetify-Music
Tech Stack: HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery

Join in and contribute to making Swetify-Music even more awesome!
Feel free to reach out with any questions or ideas. Let's code, learn, and make this open-source journey an incredible experience for everyone this Hacktoberfest. 🌱

Web-AR: Shaping the Future of Marketing in 2023

Shwet Khatri — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 19:47:37 +0000

Introduction

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, staying ahead of the curve is essential for brands looking to capture the attention of their target audience. One of the most exciting and innovative developments in recent years is Web-based Augmented Reality (Web-AR), a technology that promises to revolutionize marketing strategies in 2023 and beyond. In this blog post, we will explore how Web-AR is changing the dynamics of marketing and why it has become a game-changer for businesses.

Understanding Web-AR

Augmented Reality (AR) technology overlays digital information, such as 3D models, animations, or interactive elements, onto the real world. Web-AR takes this a step further by delivering AR experiences directly through web browsers, eliminating the need for users to download dedicated apps. This accessibility and convenience make Web-AR a powerful tool for marketers.

Web-AR's Impact on Marketing

Enhanced Customer Engagement
Web-AR provides an immersive and interactive experience for consumers. Brands can create engaging AR campaigns that allow users to interact with products, visualize them in their real environment, and make informed purchase decisions. This enhanced engagement can lead to higher conversion rates and increased customer loyalty. For example, furniture retailers can offer customers the ability to place virtual furniture in their homes to see how it fits and looks before making a purchase. This not only improves the shopping experience but also reduces the likelihood of returns.
Personalized Experiences
Web-AR allows brands to tailor experiences to individual users. By leveraging data and user preferences, marketers can create personalized AR content that resonates with each customer. This personalization increases the chances of conversion as users feel a stronger connection to the brand.
Storytelling and Branding
Web-AR provides a dynamic platform for storytelling and branding. Brands can use AR to tell their story in a more engaging and memorable way. Whether it's an interactive AR game, a virtual tour of the company's history, or an immersive product demonstration, Web-AR enables brands to leave a lasting impression on their audience.
Accessibility
One of the most significant advantages of Web-AR is its accessibility. Users don't need to download and install a separate app, which can be a barrier to entry for many. Instead, they can access AR experiences directly through their web browsers on various devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.
Analytics and Data Insights
Web-AR platforms provide robust analytics and data insights. Marketers can track user engagement, conversion rates, and other key performance metrics. This data helps refine AR campaigns, improve targeting, and optimize marketing strategies for better results.
Cost-Effective Marketing
Compared to developing and maintaining dedicated AR apps, Web-AR is a cost-effective marketing solution. It allows businesses to harness the power of AR without the significant investment required for app development and promotion.

Use Cases of Web-AR in Marketing

Product Visualization: Brands can use Web-AR to allow customers to visualize products in their real environment before making a purchase.
Virtual Try-On: Beauty and fashion brands can offer virtual try-on experiences, enabling customers to see how products look on themselves in real-time.
Interactive Packaging: AR codes on product packaging can unlock interactive experiences, such as games, tutorials, or exclusive content.
Location-Based Marketing: Brands can use location data to deliver AR experiences tied to specific physical locations, enhancing the offline shopping experience.
Immersive Advertising: Web-AR can be used in advertising campaigns to create immersive and memorable brand experiences.

Conclusion

In 2023, Web-AR is changing the dynamics of marketing by providing innovative ways to engage customers, personalize experiences, and tell compelling brand stories. Its accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and data-driven approach make it a must-have tool for businesses looking to stay competitive in the digital landscape. As AR technology continues to evolve, marketers who embrace Web-AR are well-positioned to capture the attention and loyalty of their target audience, driving growth and success in the years to come.

My Journey as Project Admin in GSSoC’23

Shwet Khatri — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 18:55:47 +0000

Greetings! I’m Shwet Khatri, currently enrolled in a master’s program for Computer Science and Engineering at The LNM Institute of Information Technology in Jaipur, India. My passion lies in crafting innovative real-world solutions through full-stack web development, utilizing the latest technologies. Additionally, I’m an avid supporter of open-source initiatives and enjoy engaging in global collaborations to contribute to open-source software projects.

I’ve just wrapped up my role as a Project Admin in the GSSoC (GirlScript Summer of Code) for the summer of 2023. Encouraged by this enriching experience, I’ve made the decision to document my entire journey in a blog. This blog will encompass everything from the initial selection phase to the final culmination of the program. My objective with this blog is to share the valuable insights I’ve acquired and offer guidance on how you too can become part of this exceptional program.

So, What is Open-Source?

Open Source is all about people working together to create software and projects. It focuses on things like being open, easy to use, and coming up with new ideas as a group. In Open Source projects, the instructions that make the software work are available to everyone. This means anyone can look at them, change them, and share them. This helps build a friendly community where many different people can share their knowledge and ideas, making everyone feel like they’re part of a team and empowering them to do great things.

Now, What is the GirlScript Summer of Code?

The GirlScript Summer of Code is a three-month-long program that happens every summer, organized by the Girlscript Foundation. During these three months, participants work on various open-source projects under the close guidance of experienced mentors. This opportunity allows students to start contributing to real-world projects right from their own homes, gaining valuable experience and exposure in the process.

How does this program work?

The program kicks off in May, offering three different roles for participation: Contributors, Mentors, and Project Admins. Project Admins initiate the process by proposing their projects to attract open-source contributors. Following this, Mentors step in to guide these contributors in their work, collaborating closely with the Project Admins. Last but not least, we have contributors who actively engage in contributing to the projects of their choice during the dedicated contribution period.

In May, projects are selected for the program, and Mentors are matched with projects that align with their interests and skills. Contributors can then freely register for the program and begin their contributions, receiving guidance from both Mentors and Project Admins. One remarkable aspect of this program is its inclusivity, as there are no specific selection criteria for contributors. It’s open to everyone, welcoming beginners to join and learn.

Throughout the contribution period, program maintainers keep a Leaderboard, scoring contributors based on their merged pull requests across different projects. This encourages contributors to explore various projects, technologies, and ideas during the three-month program. At the program’s conclusion, top performers are rewarded with exciting prizes and swag items as a token of appreciation for their outstanding contributions.

How did I get selected?

Being a fan of open-source, I was already familiar with GSSoC. When I learned that it was taking place this summer, I promptly made up my mind to elevate my involvement by taking on the role of a Project Admin this year. At that point, I didn’t have a fully developed project, but I did possess a promising project idea and a clear vision of how I would collaborate with open-source contributors to bring it to life during GSSoC’23.

Following the specified requirements, I responded to a series of questions regarding my project, its vision, and my personal journey in the realm of open-source. Additionally, I diligently prepared and submitted a demo video. This video showcased the current state of my project, outlined the future objectives I aimed to accomplish, and highlighted how it could serve as a valuable learning experience for contributors interested in XR, offering them the chance to actively participate in an open-source project.

In just a matter of days, I received the exciting news that my project, AR-Webstore, had been chosen as one of the 100 projects participating in this year’s program. I was truly delighted and filled with anticipation as I embarked on this new chapter of my journey.

About the project

Traditional e-commerce platforms fail to deliver immersive product experiences, leaving customers uncertain about the look, fit, and functionality of items. This lack of visualization leads to higher return rates as products may not meet expectations. Additionally, customer engagement suffers due to the limited ability to interact with and explore products online.

AR-Webstore revolutionizes the shopping experience by seamlessly integrating augmented reality. With AR-Webstore, customers can visualize products in their own spaces and view all the virtual features more clearly. This empowers customers to make informed decisions, reduces return rates, and enhances engagement, resulting in a more satisfying and immersive shopping journey.

The future goals of AR-Webstore include building a complete end-to-end e-commerce platform that can provide an immersive online shopping experience. Also, Make the products interactive in a real environment using ML-AI rather than just demonstrating static 3D models.

My three months long journey …

My three-month journey has been quite the roller coaster ride. In my role as a project maintainer, I encountered various challenges along the way, but I was also able to swiftly identify and implement effective solutions for them. I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with these potential challenges in advance if you have plans to open-source or make one of your projects public.

Here are my suggestions:

Build your Team: Describe your project idea, the problem you’re solving, and the exposure contributors will get in-depth and share it on different social media platforms to get the best contributors aligned with your project.
Simple but solid tech stack: Keep the tech stack of the project easy to set up and something that most of the contributors already know. It will fascinate them to connect with your project better in the initial phase. For that, you should have good documentation for the new contributors who have no experience.
Divide and Rule: Divide your project's final outcome into small tasks and assign it to the contributors while providing the deadline for each task. Raise issues at regular intervals for those tasks with descriptive objectives.
Maintainability and Sustainability: Set up good DevOps for your project as well which automates the process of deployment. Deployment previews on PRs really help in reviewing PRs quickly.
Align the team with the project: Provide a good reason about everything like why you think the contributor’s approach is not good or why yours is better. It will help them align with the project’s objectives.
Ask, Mentor, and Repeat: Encourage the contributors who are really interested in contributing to your project for a longer period and have active communication with them about asking for their updates, solving their doubts, and reviewing their work. To achieve a better understanding of each other, you may conduct online biweekly / monthly meetings with your contributors.
Learn in Public: Have a common public channel for all the contributors where they can post their queries or updates and keep maintainers to resolve their queries on a daily basis.

These points proved instrumental in enabling both myself and the contributors to maximize the benefits of this program. As the program concluded after three months, I found that our project, which had transitioned from being solely mine to a collective effort, had yielded far more than I initially anticipated.

During the contribution period, AR-Webstore got 60+ Forks, 20+ Stars, and 50+ merged PRs. I’d recommend the readers of this blog try out our collective efforts Live Here and give it a start on GitHub.

Why should you definitely go for this program?

One of the most significant benefits of participating in this program (or other paid/non-paid open-source initiatives) is the opportunity to expand one’s connections and engage with the community. This opens doors to valuable networking prospects and provides access to helpful feedback, fostering personal and professional growth.

I chose to participate in this program with the goal of sharing the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years and gaining insights into managing a project with a diverse group of contributors. The program exceeded my expectations, offering me valuable experiences beyond what I had initially anticipated.

I highly recommend that anyone who has previously been involved in programs like GSSoC or similar initiatives as a contributor should consider stepping into roles like mentorship or project administration. Doing so will provide you with a deeper understanding of the responsibilities and challenges associated with being an open-source maintainer.

What’s Next?

While the GSSoC journey has concluded this year, the AR-Webstore’s journey is just beginning. My aspiration is to elevate it to new heights by creating a groundbreaking e-commerce product. I aim to extend this project to other open-source programs to attract highly skilled developers. This endeavor will not only foster a community of individuals keen on mastering XR through open-source solutions but also allow me to contribute my utmost to the growth and prosperity of this community.

Conclusion

After three months, time has flown by swiftly. I didn’t want this program to conclude, but as the saying goes, all good things must eventually come to an end.

I’ve been genuinely amazed by the warm and supportive community I encountered during GSSoC. The program has been consistently supporting new contributors, and this year has been a delightful experience for me. I even had the opportunity to mentor these contributors and share my own experiences. I’m eagerly looking forward to remaining an active and engaged part of this community indefinitely.

Adios

Thank you for reading this far! I hope you found this blog informative and gained valuable insights into the details of the GirlScript Summer of Code Program. Sharing knowledge and experiences is a great way to foster collaboration and learning in the tech community. Best of luck with your future endeavors!

If you have any further questions about the program, open-source development, or technology in general, or if you’d like to see my work, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me on my social media accounts listed below:

Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/shwet-khatri

GitHub : https://github.com/ShwetKhatri2001

Twitter : https://twitter.com/shwetkhatri2001

Portfolio : https://shwetkhatri.netlify.app/

Till then, Keep Building 🚀, Keep Contributing 🙂

My Journey in XROS Fellowship Summer’23

Shwet Khatri — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 17:47:12 +0000

Hi folks! I am Shwet Khatri, a student pursuing a master's in Computer Science and Engineering at The LNM Institute of Information Technology, Jaipur, India. I love developing amazing real-world solutions with full-stack web development using trending technologies. At the same time, I’m an open-source enthusiast who loves collaborating worldwide to build open-source software.

I recently concluded my participation in the XROS (XR Open Source) Fellowship Program. Inspired by my experience, I’ve chosen to document my entire journey in a blog, starting from the initial application process to the culmination. Through this blog, I aim to share the valuable insights I gained and provide guidance on how you can join this remarkable program. The program’s value goes beyond financial incentives; it’s about the exceptional mentorship and networking prospects it presents, which are truly invaluable.

So, What is Open-Source?

Open Source refers to a collaborative approach to software and project development that emphasizes transparency, accessibility, and community-driven innovation. In Open Source projects, the source code is made available to the public, allowing anyone to view, modify, and distribute it. This encourages a diverse community to contribute their skills and ideas, fostering a spirit of collaboration and empowerment.

New to XR? Let’s understand that first.

Extended Reality (XR) is an umbrella term encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). XR technologies merge the physical and digital realms, offering immersive experiences. VR transports users to entirely virtual environments, AR overlays digital elements onto the real world, and MR blends digital objects into the physical space. These technologies find applications in diverse fields, transforming how we interact, learn, and engage with both real and virtual worlds.

Now, What is the XROS Fellowship Program?

The XROS Fellowship Program stands as a distinctively crafted initiative focused on empowering Indian developers engaged in XR technologies. By offering fellowships that comprise stipends and mentorship from industry experts, the program extends crucial support. Its core objective lies in enabling developers to actively participate in open-source initiatives dedicated to advancing XR technology. Beyond this, the program strives to provide developers with a platform that offers access to top-tier resources, fostering the creation of impactful digital assets for the public benefit. Moreover, it goes the extra mile to enhance their professional journeys by facilitating fellowships in organizations operating across domains such as AR, VR, MR, and 3D Modeling.

How does this program work?

The format of the program was pretty straightforward like any hiring process. It consisted of multiple rounds because only 100 developers were supposed to get selected during the first cohort of the program.

The first round was like a screening round where the applicants established their profiles by providing basic details like their skills, experience, and a brief narrative outlining their enthusiasm for open-source, extended reality (XR), and, particularly, this program. This round was conducted to filter out the genuine applications for the program and wasn’t tough at all.

After receiving confirmation that their profiles had been verified, the applicants were provided a list of Partner Organizations having all the details about the participating organizations and the projects they had made available for contributors to engage with throughout the duration of the fellowship.

Each applicant was required to select up to four projects from the list that they are interested in working on during the fellowship and craft a proposal as a next step. The proposals were reviewed by mentors of the specific organization and some shortlisted candidates were called for interviews. Following the interview phase, the list of the Final 100 Fellows selected for the fellowship was revealed, with notifications being conveyed through phone calls and emails.

How did I get selected?

I got to know about the program via email and was already involved in working on AR Projects at that time. So, I thought let’s give it a try. My objectives were to learn and contribute to XR technologies via open source. After profile verification, I outlined the potential impact of all the available projects and how they are aligned with my objectives from this fellowship.

In the proposal writing phase, I started with the first project where I was very clear about how I was going to approach the project and meet the requirements. It was EcoDhaga where I had some unique and scalable ideas to help them build their platform. After completing that I started with Osenorth’s proposal since I had previous experience working on AI + AR products such as JAR4U. I also applied to Fanisko and Waspito after getting some initial interest in their projects.

In each proposal, I mentioned project details like the features I’m going to develop along with a well-defined timeline and how I’m going to collaborate in the community. I also included personal details such as my history of open-source contributions, internships, and projects which can help me stand out from other applicants. At last, I answered some questions nicely like why I want to join this fellowship, why I’ve chosen this project, and why I’m best suited for the project. Once all the proposals were composed, I submitted them through the portal for review. Concurrently, I engaged with mentors to gain deeper insights into the projects.

After the initial application phase, I was thrilled to receive an invitation for an interview. Surprisingly, I got interview invitations from 3 of them — EcoDhaga, Osenorth, and Waspito. The interviews assessed not only my technical knowledge but also my ability to think critically, collaborate, and communicate effectively. The interviewers were genuinely interested in understanding my motivation, problem-solving approach, and vision for the project. After a nerve-wracking wait, I received the news that I had been selected for the XROS Fellowship. It was a moment of immense joy and validation. I was selected by EcoDhaga and Osenorth, but I found people and contributors at Osenorth more encouraging to work with, so I decided to start my fellowship journey with Osenorth.

About the project

Ossistant (AR Personal Assistant by Osenorth) strives to create a personalized assistant leveraging Augmented Reality (AR) technology. Its purpose is to assist users in addressing their daily inquiries and accomplishing tasks through a human-like interaction. The incorporation of AR enables users to engage with the assistant in an immersive and dynamic manner, enhancing the overall experience.

The use cases or platform services covered during the fellowship period were as follows:

Music with AR Assistant — Listening to favorite music or media in a whole new dimension.
Virtual Fitness Trainer — Get trained by a virtual fitness trainer while performing workouts and yoga in your own environment.
Virtual Tour Guide — Getting directions or recommendations to your destination in a virtual environment.
Assistance on Daily Queries — Get instinctive answers to your daily queries via AI-based chat.

My four months long journey …

At the beginning of the fellowship, all the XROS Fellows got together for an introductory meeting led by our mentor and the founder of Osenorth. They guided us, and with their help, we planned out what new features we would work on during the fellowship. We also made a timeline for when we would finish each feature. Every weekend, we talked about our work, gave each other feedback, and shared ideas. During the weekdays, we focused on learning and working on our decided tasks. We aimed to reach the goals we set by the next weekend and put in our best effort to achieve them.

Virtual Fitness Trainer is the feature I built from scratch to culmination during the fellowship. If you’re a health freak, but don’t get enough time to go out to the gym or yoga class then we have you covered here with our Virtual Fitness Trainer. This use case is all about providing a Gym Trainer or Yoga Coach virtually in a more immersive way for free.

In this service, users are provided some workouts and yoga to try out. There are dedicated web pages to perform each workout/yoga. On that page, they get more details about that exercise and 3D Virtual Trainers demonstrating that exercise. These 3D animated trainer models are built using Blender and rendered using React Three Fiber.

Demo — Read and Experience 3D on Ossistant’s Virtual Fitness Trainer

Next, users can actually perform the exercise in front of the camera on this platform and the performance will be tracked by our AI-based body-tracking system built using TensorFlow and Mediapipe. It will keep track of performed reps or pose time and let the user know via voice making it a hands-free experience.

Demo — Track your session on Ossistant’s Virtual Fitness Trainer

Last but not least, users can observe the Virtual Fitness Trainer in their own environment by entering the AR mode on their phones. This will actually help users visualize a particular exercise better and understand the best way to do it. This AR experience is also built using React Three Fiber.

Demo — Get Immersed in AR on Ossistant’s Virtual Fitness Trainer

I began working on the mentioned service after the first two weeks. Prior to that, in the initial stages of the fellowship, I focused on enhancing the user interface, and overall visual style in the first week. This involved creating a mood board, low-detailed design, and more detailed high-quality design in Figma, as demonstrated there. Once the design was ready, I proceeded to develop the front end of the web pages, such as the homepage and service page in the second week, utilizing Nextjs.

In a nutshell, if you’re considering applying for the fellowship, remember that you’ll be tackling some tough challenges. However, the key is to do a bit of research on the issues at hand, get a grasp of the underlying technology, and don’t hesitate to seek assistance from your fellow participants and mentors whenever you need it. With this approach, you’re bound to overcome obstacles and succeed in your journey.

Why should you definitely go for this program

One of the most valuable takeaways from this program (or similar paid/non-paid open-source initiatives) is the chance to engage with a genuinely fascinating project that addresses real-world issues or improves upon current solutions. Additionally, you gain increased avenues to connect and interact with the community, facilitating valuable networking opportunities and access to constructive feedback.

I decided to dive into this program because I had acquired a certain level of understanding about XR technology and was eager to put it into practice by contributing to an impressive project. As it turned out, my experience exceeded my initial goals. I not only gained a deeper knowledge of XR technologies and successfully integrated exciting features into an XR project, but I also had the chance to explore more about XR and related projects through an active community. Collaborating with others who shared a common goal improved my teamwork skills, and I refined my ability to write open-source code and documentation effectively.

Lastly, the stipend serves as an extra advantage, just for a little extra encouragement 😉 Nevertheless, I recommend not making the stipend your sole driving force for participating in this program or any other open-source project. Doing so might obstruct your perspective on the authentic and enduring advantages that this program aims to provide, such as valuable skills, mentorship, and networking prospects.

Is it really tough?

Simple answer — Nope!

Let me share an example from my own experience. When I applied for the fellowship, I was a beginner in XR. However, what I discovered was that it’s absolutely fine not to be an expert in XR at the outset. After all, the realm of XR is still in its early stages of development, and the fellowship is a chance for people who are interested in learning and exploring it.

Given the limited availability of seats (just 100), it’s important to find ways to distinguish yourself from other applicants. Take my situation as an example: my background in professional experience and open-source contributions in web development played a crucial role in securing this opportunity and demonstrating my capabilities. However, I’d advise all applicants to consider exploring XR on their own before directly applying for this program. This prior exploration can provide you with valuable insights and a stronger foundation.

Conclusion

Finally, after 4 months, time has passed by quickly. I didn’t want this program to finish, but as they say, all good things must come to an end.

Thanks to my mentor Umair Tariq and my teammates Anindita H.K, Harshil Jani, and Uday Devu Tople because without them this wouldn’t have been possible. I really appreciate my mentor’s time and effort, as well as the effort other community members put into this program.

I was truly impressed by the welcoming and supportive community at XROS. They’re always ready to assist new contributors, and it’s been a wonderful experience. I’m excited to continue contributing to this project and staying engaged within the community, even after the fellowship.

Adios

Thank you for reading this far! I hope you found this blog informative and gained valuable insights into the details of the XROS Fellowship Program.

Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/shwet-khatri

GitHub : https://github.com/ShwetKhatri2001

Twitter : https://twitter.com/shwetkhatri2001

Portfolio : https://shwetkhatri.netlify.app/

Till then, Keep Building 🚀, Keep Contributing 🙂

My Journey in LFX Mentorship Program Summer’22

Shwet Khatri — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 18:01:31 +0000

Hi folks! I am Shwet Khatri, a student pursuing an undergraduate in Computer science and Engineering at The LNM Institute of Information Technology, Jaipur, India. My interests include developing real-world solutions with full-stack web development and collaborating worldwide to build open-source software.

Recently, I completed the LFX Mentorship Program which is an Open source program where I worked on a cool project funded by CNCF which goes by the name of Karmada and I decided to write a blog encapsulating my journey, from the application process to the end, shedding light upon the learnings I earned and how you too can become a part of such a great program, not because of the bucks it offers but primarily, the fantastic kind of mentorship and networking opportunities it ends up offering.

So, What is Open-Source?

Open-Source software provides users the freedom to modify their code according to their needs. It is a way through which you can get real developer experience and work on amazing real-time projects. We get to solve many real-life problems through technical solutions by working on such open-source projects.

Now, What is the LFX Mentorship Program?

This is an Open-source program initiated by The Linux Foundation to promote the involvement of people all around the globe in open-source development. This program is similar to other open source programs like Google Summer of Code where you get the opportunity to work on an open-source project under the personal mentorship of its maintainers for a period of 3 months.

How does this program work?

The format of this program is pretty straightforward and resembles other open sources programs out there. One difference and advantage about this program is that it runs 3 times a year — Spring (March 1st — May 31st), Summer (June 1st — August 31st), and Fall (September 1st — Nov 30th).

Every quarter, this program begins with different organizations proposing project ideas that they’d like the mentees to work on. For a period of around 2 weeks, they propose their ideas over the cncf/mentorship repository.

After that period, for the next 2 weeks, the application phase for the interested people begins when they submit their applications including a resume and cover letter mentioning their interest, skills, and related experience over the LFX Mentorship website. Some organizations also consider taking interviews to shortlist people from a high number of applicants.

And after a few days, the results get released via email, and then, the fun part begins where the selected mentees get to network with their mentors and start the work on the projects for which they got selected.

How did I get selected?

Around January 2022, I got to know about a list of such open-source programs on Linkedin from one of my connections. I was first very much interested to take part in Google Summer of Code 2022 and gave my best for two months. My proposal was selected by the mentors of the organization where I applied, but unfortunately, Google didn’t have enough slots for my organization and I was cut off since the priority of my project was quite low at that time. Although no worries, This happens every year and I will try next year. Still, the efforts we put in always succeed in one or another way. So, My learnings preparing for GSoC helped me get selected for the LFX Mentorship program. Also, writing a proposal for GSoC helped me write a cover letter here.

During the application period, I looked for projects that match my tech stack and I found three projects having ReactJS, Redux, and Figma being mentored by Karmada. So I decided to focus on those three. Some projects also provide good first issues for new contributors. My project didn’t have those, so I started getting connected with the mentors and suggesting some ideas related to my project, which increased my chances of getting selected. I did apply to all three possible projects to have no risk and got selected for the most preferred one.

About Karmada

Karmada (Kubernetes Armada) is a Kubernetes management system that enables you to run your cloud-native applications across multiple Kubernetes clusters and clouds, with no changes to your applications. By speaking Kubernetes-native APIs and providing advanced scheduling capabilities, Karmada enables truly open, multi-cloud Kubernetes.

My task was to work on Karmada Dashboard, which is a general-purpose, web-based control panel for Karmada. I was expected to design three web pages for the dashboard in Figma and develop them as well using ReactJS which were FederatedResourceQuota, SearchRegistry, and MultiClusterIngress pages.

My three months long journey …

I first connected with my mentors to get an idea about the project and the requirements during the mentorship program. Then as suggested by them I started designing the pages. One of my mentors already designed other pages, so I designed all three pages in Figma showing a table view of different services as shown here by being consistent with the used theme on existing pages. So, the first month of the mentorship was all about getting continuous feedback and improving the designs over iterations.

In the second month, I was expected to code these UI pages and I thought that should be done within a month. But it wasn’t that easy. Because setting up the project with not too much experience working with DevOps technologies was quite hard. The project was only available to run locally on Linux-based systems, but I had Windows, so I dual-booted my system. Then I started setting up different DevOps technologies such as Docker, Kubernetes, and Kind. Getting used to these technologies took me some time and effort. I was daily solving some problems and getting stuck into new problems. My mentors help me a lot during that period. After around 15 days of effort, I did setup the karmada main project and the dashboard project.

In the later part of the mentorship, I started creating the reusable ReactJS components which were finalized in the designs. I created a reusable Table, Pagination, and Sidebar component during the mentorship, which got approved for the frontend. Now, after the mentorship, I am focusing on backend APIs to be integrated and everything can be merged then. Here are some Pull Requests, I’ve created till now.

So, summarizing this journey for someone applying next, you should have some knowledge to get started easily, but you will face some problems, but just research a little bit about the problem, learn the tech behind it, and ask for a mentor’s help whenever required and you will surely make it.

Why should you definitely go for this program

One of the best things to get from this program (or any other paid/non-paid open source program) is the opportunity to get personally mentored by a set of talented engineers maintaining a really cool project. Apart from that, you get more opportunities and ways to converse and network with the community and get feedback from them.

And finally, the stipend is an added benefit because why not 😉 But yeah, that being said, I’d strongly suggest you to NOT keep the stipend as your sole motivator towards this program or any other open source program because that would just cloud your vision from the genuine and long-lasting benefits this program would be offering i.e. the skills, the mentorship, and the networking opportunities.

Is it really tough?

Simple answer — Nope!

Let me exemplify myself:

I started contributing to Karmada only a few days after it proposed its project idea, so I didn’t have/need any headstart.
You don’t need to be proficient in each and every technology the organization or project is involving. For example, I wasn’t good at DevOps that time but this program gave me an opportunity to explore and learn myself that field of development as well.
At the end of the day, the most important skill for doing open source dev is Patience, because the people working in open-source organizations belong to different countries and timezones. So, contribute and wait for the feedback that cycle goes on.

Conclusion

Finally, after 12 weeks, the time really flies. I didn’t want this program to end. But every good thing comes to an end. Thanks to my mentors Chinmay Mehta , Hongcai Ren and other community members because without them this wouldn’t have been possible. I really appreciate my mentor’s time and effort, as well as the effort other community members put into this program. I was really amazed to see the community which is so understanding and welcoming and always ready to help new contributors.

I had a great time with the Karmada community, with the amazing members supporting and helping me throughout the journey. I look forward to contributing more to this project and being more active in the community even after the mentorship.

Adios

Thanks for reaching till here! Hope you found this blog informative enough to have gained insights into the specifics of the LFX Mentorship Program.

If you still have any questions regarding this program or regarding open source dev, or tech in general, or just wanna check out my work, feel absolutely free to reach me out on my social media handles provided below:

Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/shwet-khatri-4ab216196/

GitHub : https://github.com/ShwetKhatri2001

Twitter : https://twitter.com/shwetkhatri2001

Till then, Keep Contributing 🙂

My Journey in LGMSOC’21

Shwet Khatri — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 14:17:29 +0000

“ The journey of a thousand miles start with a single step ”
— Lao Tzu

What is Open-Source Contribution?

Open-Source software provides users the freedom to modify their code according to their need. It is a way through which you can get a real developer experience and work on amazing real-time projects. We get solve many real-life problems through the technical solutions by working on such open-source projects.

What is LGM-SOC?

LetsGrowMore is a community of the students, for the students, by the students. LetsGrowMore Summer of Code(LGMSOC) is a 2-month long open source contribution program which was initiated to enhance the student participation in the open source community and the contribution programs under the guidance of mentors from the open-source community.

My 2 months long Journey ……

It was my first open source program , I was quite good at web development and beginner in open source just because of Hacktoberfest2020, when program started on 10 June, 2021. I thought I know GitHub well , but when I started contributing I got to know I didn’t know everything. Open Source contributions really help us with Git and GitHub , which should be handled wisely when you are working on good quality projects. I learnt how a team work and collaborate on a project .All the mentors and project admins helped me a lot for that via live sessions and guidance.

Now coming to contributions, I started with two beginner projects having tech stack for front-end web development . I tried to make first PR to spacex-launch-data where I set all the details for space missions fetched from SPACEX API in a well designed card based UI . after development I faced some git merge conflicts that I solved after few attempts. Finally I made that PR on main repo which got merged for level-3 with appreciation from project admin that I did not expect from 1st PR, so it really boosted my confidence. Along with contributing on this project I found another project Musicophilia very interesting , I was contributing on these two projects and was finding more interesting projects in first week.

After first week of contributions I found a Full / MERN stack project called project-zone , that I was actually looking for. This project helps students to find project ideas based on their interests , students can also save, like and rate their favourite projects and can get badges according to their activity on their profile. I contributed during whole program on this project and am the Top Contributor now with 40+ PR got merged. The project admin - Rohit Kumar Saini really helped me every time when I requested . mentors for this project - Satyam and Kanak were also happy to help every time. I created most of the frontend pages from scratch in ReactJS according to figma design I was being given . Then I moved to backend with MongoDB and NodeJS , A contributor Naveen was working really good with backend, we team up for different functionalities and I learnt a lot from him. I added user like , save, rate, comment, profile update, project add, badge for activity and many more backend functionalities and integrated them with frontend as well.

I was feeling very excited contributing to project-zone everyday that I even did not look for more projects for one and half months. Then for last two weeks I started contributing on LetsGrowMoreCommunity’s own project DSA-Playyard which helps students who want to enhance their journey in software development by enhancing DSA problem solving skills. I was solving some of the Best DSA problems and was contributing them with explanation.

Conclusion

As the journey came to an end I had a total of successful 60+ PR merged in this span of 2 months.

This was the first season of LGMSOC that wrapped up after your consistent efforts and enthusiasm. With more than 4000 participants, 100+ highly skilled mentors, and 60 projects from varied domains to contribute, the first season was a great success. I would like to thank LetsGrowMoreCommunity, all the project admins, mentors and contributors. A great shout out to all of them, they deserve the highest appreciation.

In this journey I learnt a lot from the community. I will continue contributing to such open-source projects even after
LGMSOC( letsgrowmore.in ).

Looking Forward to contribute more in open source.

9 Best programming project ideas for beginners to level up their coding skills

Shwet Khatri — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 20:35:01 +0000

It is a high time to challenge your skills and take a step forward towards your goal to become a qualified programmer. Mentioned below are some of the popular projects you can choose from in order to garnish your portfolio with:

Chess Game
Isn't it astonishing to build your own chess game and play? You may begin to design a chess board and it’s pieces with impressive graphics that you would prefer among available chess games. This project will make you brainstorm learned concepts in order to create algorithms, and decide how to make the application work fluently. Do not sit relaxed, it's time to flaunt your programming skills through your game.
Mobile App
A mobile app will ask you to use programming languages like HTML and CSS, in order to design outstanding layouts for Android and iOS devices. Apart from coding skills, this project will provide assistance to create customised interfaces that are mobile-device friendly as well. Through this project you will be exposed to limitless designs that can be created using CSS and you will end up improving CSS language skills into the bargain.
Calculator
A calculator is a well-known tool in the world, therefore, you must go through available calculators and design the most appropriate and an error-free calculator. This project will offer tremendous opportunities to practice creating multiple layouts, logics that reads symbols and provides desired output immediately, and visually appealing graphics. To design this application, JavaScript is considered an excellent approach to pair with HTML and CSS.
To-Do List
A to-do list will assist you with the appropriate usage of buttons, animation, user interaction and events while creating a simple UI. This is an impressive project that can be added into your portfolio to show-off your programming skills in front of the recruiters.
Weight converter
A weight converter will ask you to incorporate multiple units and their conversion methods. You only need to act creatively and implement features, which lack in other weight converters. This one is quite similar to creating a to-do list and can be created by using programming languages like HTML and JavaScript.
Rock-Paper-Scissors game
One of the most popular games among the kids is 'A rock, paper, scissor game' that may turn out as a brilliant idea to challenge your programming skills at present. Apart from designing the game, you need to create the logical robot that will be playing against the user in an interesting manner. Moreover, with good coding practice you may learn to formulate a multiple range of graphics.
Tic Tac Toe Game
Yes, you can build Tic Tac Toe, another prevalent game among kids, where a square of 9 boxes appears on the screen and whosoever first introduces an unbroken vertical, horizontal or diagonal line is considered a victor. Python’s pygame library will help you with required graphics and audios.
Basic HTML5 Website
This project is a collection of multiple concepts including design principles, file linking, web hosting, and coding logic. To accomplish an ultimate goal of becoming a web developer, understanding towards HTML and CSS websites is a necessity and therefore, calling this project a golden opportunity will not be wrong.
JavaScript Slideshow
This one is a suggestion that should be appraised for sure, as you will be exposed to the basics of Document Object Model (DOM) in the browser to give a dynamic nature to your website. Besides, this one can be used repetitively and a web developer is incomplete without the logic of creating a simple JavaScript slideshow.