What Does It Take To Get Into Google Summer Of Code? I want to take part this year

[africa 0]

Hi guys,I want to take part in the Goolge Summer of Code this year. I would like to know the skills required..PHP, Javascript?? I am currently learning PHP and will move on to other languages once I have a foundation.How long does it take for someone to understand a programming language then possibly start developing modules, etc) and then get accepted for Summer of Code?Thanks

Edited March 9, 2009 by africa (see edit history)

[truefusion 3]

PHP will make the learning process easier. It's an easy programming language to understand, mostly thanks to their well-written documentation. But being an interpreted language means it cannot do everything, since PHP is, i would say, a medium to high level programming language. I do not know how one participates in GSOC; however, the page implies that you have to be part of a mentoring organization—whatever that means. They said applications for 2009 will start being accepted today. According to the FAQs, it appears just about any group can be a mentoring organization.

Since you are pretty much just starting out in learning how to program (at least that is what i get from your post), it may be better for you to take part in perhaps the 2010th GSOC. Understanding a language and writing some code from the understanding can happen as quick as, i would say, 30 minutes. Of course, the program will be extremely simple, most likely a "Hello World!" program (which in PHP can take up no more than one line). Since you mention modules, that's more complex and requires understanding more than just the language itself, it requires understanding the structure and function of the script or program you're writing a module for. Such implies a (very) good understanding of the language itself.

[africa 0]

Thanks a lot. I also decided to take part in 2011 as it gives me time to learn everything and hone my skills for the big break!Thanks a lot. I intend to combine with MySQL and Javascript.