Tomorrow, it begins. The culmination of weeks of research, documentation, and preparation by multiple open-source projects, just waiting to start hacking away with students. Tomorrow, students aged 13-17 can begin participating in Google Code-in 2017.
Ubuntu is one of the mentoring organizations, with several of my colleagues and me as mentors. Just in case you haven’t heard of it, Ubuntu is an open-source operating system for servers, desktops, and embedded devices. Even those who have never heard of it use it daily: Paypal, Netflix, Wikipedia, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Spotify– all these run on Ubuntu. It’s an awesome project, and very rewarding to work on!
One of the best ways to get involved in computer science is with open-source software (like Ubuntu). One of the best ways to get involved in open-source software is with mentorship, which is exactly what Google Code-in provides– with prizes, including a trip to Google’s headquarters! Tasks range from creating documentation (tutorials, etc.) to translations, all the way to hard-core coding tasks. There’s something there for everyone, and the product of your work will be used by millions of people!
If you fall in this age range, I know I can speak for all my colleagues when I say that we’re looking forward to working with you. If you’re local, feel free to reach out by commenting below and hitting the “notify me of other comments” checkbox and entering your email address (which will be kept private). If there’s interest, perhaps we can put a workshop together.