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Revision as of 12:25, 20 January 2017

Contributing to an Open Source Project on Github

In this lab you will contribute a fix to an open source project on Github. Successfully completing this lab will require you to have first worked through, and understood, this week's git walkthroughs. If you have not already done so, please setup git and Github as described in the following:

1. Intro to node.js, npm, npmjs.com

We will be contributing to projects that use node.js, its package manager npm, and the npmjs module registry. In order to complete this lab, you should install node.js on your home/dev computer, which you can download here.

We won't need to use node.js directly, but it's a good time to install it, since we'll be using it in subsequent labs and assignments.

2. Understanding package.json

Node.js uses a special file named package.json to specify metadata about a module. You can read a complete description of package.json at https://docs.npmjs.com/files/package.json.

A package.json file has to be valid JSON, and must include a few fields. However, many of the fields are optional. Let's look at some examples from popular node.js open source projects:

These package.json files have common elements, such as:

There are also some optional fields you can include, for example:

The metadata in package.json is used by the command-line tool npm as well as by the online registry https://www.npmjs.com/. Providing good data for these tools makes it easier for developers to find and use node modules.

3. Contributing fixes to package.json files

For our first contribution to an open source project, we're going to go looking for ways we can help existing node.js based projects do a better job with their package.json files. This could involve a number of things:

Before we can fix any issues with existing package.json files, we have to find some! Our first task is to locate 1 module with an issue per student. Please do not fix a bug until we have found a bug for everyone.

Here are some queries to get you started. Also look at the Dependencies and Dependents lists for any module you examine on npmjs. When you find a module that is missing keywords or has some other issue, add it below, making sure to copy the style I have begun on row 1. Also, be careful not to add duplicates:

To get you started, I've already found and fixed one, and also listed a couple of others I noticed in 5 minutes of searching on npmjs and Github.

# NPMJS Module (URL) Assigned (Github URL) Pull Request (URL) Blog Post (URL)
1 request humphd https://github.com/request/request/pull/2514 http://blog.humphd.org/howto-first-github-pr/
2 gulp-util
3 dat-next
4 inherits simon66
5 nodeunit
6 mysql lkisac
7 lodash kramsamujh
8 glob rmgervais
9 elasticsearch abykin
10 data-proxy
11 bootsrap for angular
12 angular-translate dsych
13 zone
14 concat-stream
15 Customize write files
16 connector
17 buffer
18 prompt badrmodoukh
19 json-loader
20 level-sublevel Th30
21 webpack-dev-middleware rkgupta21
22 browserify
23 Angular2 johnpapa
24 restify timmoy
25 browser-logos Jejames1
26 Supervisor cgsingh
27 nodejs-dashboard dangkhue27
28 swiper-fullscreen
29 queried
30 pouchdb-errors
31 babel-runtime sgupta7857
32 Angular - the compiler library
33 semver
34
35 Atom
36 babylon dsych
37
38 bugsnag-js tiago
39 jade
40 react-boilerplate

Submission

You will have completed your lab when you have done the following:

  • Added a row above with the name of a node.js module that needs a fix, and your name. Make sure all students have a module to work on before you begin fixing yours. We'll work as a community to help triage existing modules.
  • Create a Pull Request to fix some problem or omission in the package.json file. I've documented a complete example in my blog, see http://blog.humphd.org/howto-first-github-pr/. Add the URL to your Pull Request to the table above.
  • Write a blog post about the process you took to complete this lab and the Pull Request. What happened next? Was it accepted? How long did it take? What did they say? What did you learn? Also write about your feelings contributing to your first open source project. What went well? What was hard? What surprised you?
  • Add the URL to your blog post in the table above beside your Pull Request URL

You should complete Lab 2 before the end of week 3 (it might take you a few days).