What Hacktoberfest Taught Me About Git, GitHub, and Open-Source Collaboration

Asokumar Dhusanthika — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 05:44:05 +0000

As an ICT student, I spend a lot of time learning programming concepts and working on assignments. But learning how to work with other developers is a different experience. Hacktoberfest encouraged me to explore that side of software development and think more seriously about open source.

When I first started learning Git and GitHub, there were so many terms to understand: repositories, branches, commits, forks, and pull requests. I could remember the commands, but understanding how they fit together took more time.

Exploring open-source collaboration helped those concepts make sense.

Git became more than a list of commands

One of the biggest lessons for me was understanding why version control matters.

Git keeps a record of changes, which makes it easier to understand how a project develops. Branches give us space to work on a change, while commits help explain the steps we took.

I also began to appreciate the value of a clear commit message. Writing “updated files” might feel enough at the moment, but it tells the next person very little. A useful message helps someone understand what changed without having to guess.

These small habits can make teamwork much easier.

GitHub is a place for conversations

I used to think of GitHub mainly as a place to upload code. Now, I see how much discussion happens around that code.

An issue explains a problem. A pull request introduces a proposed change. A review gives people a chance to ask questions, suggest improvements, and check whether the change fits the project.

That process taught me that explaining my work matters too. Someone reviewing a contribution needs to understand the problem, the solution, and how the change was checked.

Good communication makes the code easier to review.

Small contributions can still be useful

As a beginner, it is easy to look at an unfamiliar repository and feel that you have nothing valuable to offer.

But a project needs more than new features. Clear setup instructions, corrected documentation, helpful examples, and well-described bug reports all help people use and maintain it.

This changed how I think about contributing. A sensible starting point is finding a small problem I understand and working carefully on it.

The size of a change does not tell the whole story of its usefulness.

Collaboration requires patience

Reading someone else’s code takes time. So does understanding contribution guidelines and learning how a project is organised.

I am learning to slow down, read first, and ask specific questions when I get stuck. I am also learning to see feedback as part of improving the work. A suggested change is an opportunity to understand something I may have missed.

What I want to carry forward

My biggest takeaway from Hacktoberfest is that becoming a better developer includes learning how to contribute responsibly.

I still have more to learn about Git, GitHub, and working with unfamiliar codebases. But I have a clearer place to start: understand the project, choose a manageable task, communicate clearly, and stay open to feedback.

Those are habits I want to bring into my university group projects and future work.

For me, Hacktoberfest is a starting point for continuing to learn with other people—and, little by little, becoming someone who can help them too.

DEV Community: Asokumar Dhusanthika

What Hacktoberfest Taught Me About Git, GitHub, and Open-Source Collaboration