GSoC_2016_Student_Guide

What to do if you have been accepted as a student for Google Summer of Code 2016?

If you are looking for information about applying to GSoC, please look at GSoC 2016 Applicant Guide.

Communicate

Write a blog

• Set up a blog where you will communicate your results. It is okay to use an existing one.
• Start posting immediately, begin with a description of your project.
• You should write a status report every week. The first weekly report is due on Monday, 30 May 2016 at 12:00 UTC and the subsequent reports at the same hour on a weekly interval. Suggested sections for the status report are:
  • Key accomplishments last week
  • Key tasks that stalled
  • Tasks in the upcoming week
• This blog will be aggregated on https://planet.phpmyadmin.net/
• Weekly status reports are obligatory, if you fail to provide them, it can be a reason for not passing evaluation for Google.

Use the mailing list

• Subscribe to the developers mailing list if you have not already done so.
• Introduce yourself.
• Include the link to your blog and Git repository there.
• Describe your project in short.
• All your technical questions should go through this mailing list.

Ask questions in public

• We're an open community so unless you have a good reason, all communication should be public.
• Ask on the mailing list unless you have a good reason to ask directly your mentor.
• While you can also use IRC to ask questions (#phpmyadmin on freenode), discussion of your ideas and implementation as well as direct discussion with your mentor should take place on the mailing list. If you are going to use IRC, stick around until you get an answer -- your mentor (or anyone else) may be sleeping, working, or away when you first ask but may respond when they return.

Optionally use Twitter

• You can tweet about your daily progress; please use #phpmyadmin hash tag.

Publish a Git repository

• Publish your changes immediately in your Git repository.
• We recommend to use github.com for sharing code, see Git#Publishing_changes_for_merge.
• Write about location of your Git repository to the developers mailing list.
• Push every change you've done so that we can track your progress. GSoC has few deadlines, but we want to see and merge your code continuously!
• Every commit should contain single change and the code should be working on every commit. Try to prevent huge breakages.
• When you feel you've reached point where part of your code should be merged to main repository, just open a pull request on Github or tell your mentor.

Benefit from the Community Bonding Period

• Familiarize yourself with phpMyAdmin's code base
• Contact your mentor and establish a plan for the upcoming weeks

Be active

• Be active, don't expect to be kicked and taken by the hand on every step.
• Write weekly reports on time.
• Submit your code early.
• If you fail to communicate, it can lead your project being marked as failed and you won't receive any money from Google.

Don't forget documentation

• All new functionality you create should be documented.
  • New configuration options.
  • New features which require some additional configuration.
  • New features which are not obvious to use.
• Having documentation for end users is a must, you need to include it in our existing documentation (do not add separate documents).
• The documentation should be done as you code, do not keep it on last moment.

After the Summer

Hopefully, your involvement will continue after GSoC. Refer to GSoC 2016 After the Summer to see what could happen.

Links

• The DOs and DON’Ts of Google Summer of Code: Student Edition - Some tips for students who want to take part in GSoC

• Coding guidelines - Guidelines about coding for phpMyAdmin

Category:Google Summer of Code 2016