need help

[Giovanni Gherdovich]

> Hello.
>
> my name is abdellah and I am a third year computer science
> student  from morocco [...]

Hello Abdellah!

> But I really want to participate in Google Summer of Code .
> my question is , do you have a project that I can do ,
> knowing my modest knowledge in programming ?

I understand your desire: GSoC is a truly amazing experience!

But sometimes desire is not enough to succeed in the short term:
you need some time and dedication, too.

I bet most of the students who applied for the GSoC project
didn't completely understand the problem statements /
motivations behind the proposed projects; what they did is
approaching the Mercurial community and ask for more
clarifications on one of the specific projects.

You might consider doing the same.

But choosing a project in the list is not enough to get
a ticket for the GSoC: a student is also required to first
complete an "easy mission" to prove to the community that
he has some chance to successfully complete a full GSoC project.

Here the list of "easy missions":
the bugs listed here are considered "easy", and are a good
way to make practice with how the Mercurial project works
both the internals and the way a developer submits code for review
http://bz.selenic.com/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=keyword%3Aeasy

Every candidate for the Google Summer of Code is required
to solve one of those bugs before the staff will consider
his/her application. No exceptions ! :-)

Please keep in mind that, if you're totally/almost new
to programming, even completing the "easy mission"
in the forthcoming days will be a challenge.
So, there is a possibility that you'll fail.
But: don't be discouraged if that happens! Keep trying.
Remember that success means going from failure to failure
without losing enthusiasm.

Now, a few resources that you'll find usefull if you're up to the challenge:

0) Mercurial is written in the Python programming language.
The best tutorial for Python available on the web is
"dive into python" by Mark Pilgrim, http://www.diveintopython.net/
If you have access to a local library, "Learning Python" by Merk Lutz
is also not bad
www.amazon.com/Learning-Python-Powerful-Object-Oriented-Programming/dp/0596158068/

1) The book of Mercurial, to learn what it is and what it does
http://hgbook.red-bean.com/read/

2) various links on how to write code for mercurial:
http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/DeveloperInfo
http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/ContributingChanges

3) IRC. It's a chat system. It is very helpfull to
have quick answers to specific questions.
http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/IRC

So, to recap: try to fix a bug from the "easy bug" list.
Follow the instruction to submit your fix as a patch.
Choose a GSoC project you'd like to candidate.
Express your interest in the list thru specific questions.

Good luck!

Cheers,
GGhh
(ggherdov on IRC)
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