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Nina Rallies
Nina Rallies

Posted on

6 3

Contributing to an open source project for the first time!

Alright, so here is the truth. I have been testing everyone's code, except my own! To be more precise, I've been involved in customer acceptance testing more than integration testing and NEVER in unit testing.
I started working early, so I practically never had much free time and never contributed to any open source projects. When I moved to Germany, I was pretty sure I could finally make time to contribute, thinking I was the one "giving".
The task I'm at is pretty easy, "write down the shunting yard algorithm and test it". Did the first part in a few minutes, and have been stuck for two to three days since! I mean... Testing was my job, it was what I did for 6 years, wasn't it!? I should've been way better at it!
I've been reading on and clicking on every single documentation page of GoogleTest to figure out where it goes wrong.
Apart from the frustration I feel, there's something else I feel as well, satisfaction. I am finally learning to "learn" and understanding that contribution isn't about me "giving" but also about me becoming aware of what I do not know.

P.S. probably very bad timing to get stuck on googleTest since I also have a couple of exams in October :-D

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Top comments (1)

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Samuel Nitsche

Thanks for sharing!
Getting started with automated testing is hard because it often requires a lot of environmental setup. It also challenges your viewpoint and - at least that's what I experience - it requires you to think about the problem domain much more (edge-cases, what can go wrong etc.)
Keep going, give yourself the time you need and be compassionate to yourself.
And good luck for your exams! :)

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