Re: A Question from a Hopeful Future Contributor

From: Lucas Seiki Oshiro <lucasseikioshiro@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 19, 2025, 22:06 UTC
Message-ID: <77CAB8BB-ECA5-46FD-A72D-CD59D96B584C@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <87y0slp23s.fsf@arch.mail-host-address-is-not-set>

> Hello everyone,
> 
> I hope that this message finds you well! I'm a software developer and passionate
> git user, and I'd like to try my hand at contributing to the project.

Hi!

The suggestions from Ayush are really helpful. In the last few months I helped some people (a friend and some students from my university) to join the Git community and to send their first patches.

I would start with the microproject. Some of them are really easy, but you'll get familiar with the contribution process (i.e. sending patches, code conventions, commit conventions, etc).

After that, follow the tutorials for creating a new command (MyFirstContribution, MyFirstObjectWalk). Perhaps you'll find something outdated in them and that's another good opportunity to send another patch!

Another good reference is "First steps contributing to Git" [1]. It covers everything that you need to know and to do to get started.

If you aren't familiar with the core concepts of Git (objects, index, references, etc), read the chapter "Git Internals" from Pro Git [2].

I hope it helps you!

[1] https://matheustavares.dev/posts/first-steps-contributing-to-git [2] https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Plumbing-and-Porcelain