Introduction
Throughout my three month plus journey, I have fought, I have struggled and I have conquered Git and Github workflow in projects related our individual SSG project, large open source projects like Microsoft Quantum and Manim, internal projects like Telescope and IPC144 and smaller projects like Cchess. I no longer have fear of using source control as compared to at the start of the term. At present, I can contribute to any open source project without the need to worry if I make can proper, clean commits. This is a unique course in Ontario where students have the opportunity to work on any open source projects around the world, in any programming language, in any written language and without major restrictions that hold you back from accomplishing and achieving our potential.
Some of the highlights of this course include coding in multiple languages, having touched many aspects of code as well as collaborated with students going through the course. I believe Online learning for this course is unique and being asynchronous format helps students who are busy with family, Covid-19 struggles, part time work to really manage our time and learn at our own pace. It is true the effort you put in this course is what you get out of it in the end. It was also interesting to read other fellow student's blog posts as well as the communication in Slack, although not visible at times is a place where we can help each other. The collaborative nature of this course is what inspired me to continue my diploma at Seneca.
Advice for Future OSD600 students
If you want to do well in the course, I suggest to start early and learn to find open source projects you are interested in. There is no one to tell you what you can do but you have to find the issues yourself, which can be the greatest strength and weakness depending on your motivation. I find if you try your best, it really shows in your commits and the care you put into your work. Dave is not asking you to do everything perfectly, but he is asking you to improve little by little throughout the weeks. The course is designed so that your skills can be honed in many areas. I particularly enjoyed the week on rebasing and merging commits because it shows how powerful Git really is, because with great power comes great responsibility. Where most students struggle at first is using Git and doing things properly. For instance, Dave teaches NOT git add . , because you shouldn't add everything and you need to be specific and not lazy. If you make mistakes its alright, but do learn from it. Being successful in OSD600 comes down to planning your weeks and starting ahead of time. I know students tend to wait till the end because deadlines are not hard but you should not get into the habit of completing labs in the last minute. Its the same as on the job and in life.
Conclusion
I definitely recommend this course to anyone willing to become a better programmer. It is definitely one of the highlights of my Seneca student career. What you learn here is invaluable to anyone moving to full time employment in the future, because it builds your exposure and Github profile. Employers take notice of the work students contribute and commit in this course, and if anything do it to learn Git. Reading how to do it and watching Youtube videos is not going automatically give you the skills you need to know Git and Github, you need to practice it constantly in the course. Dave is always here to guide you if your stuck and its the only way you can learn and overcome it by asking questions. Thank you for reading.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Eugene Chung
