Introduction

My name is Alexander Samaniego, I am a 4th year Software Development (BTech. Hons.) student at Seneca College. I am starting my journey into open source development by taking DPS909 (Topics in Open Source Development) with Prof. David Humphrey.

Prior to enrolling in this program I completed a Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Science at York University. There were numerous reasons for why I decided to pursue another degree in a completely unrelated field. The main reason is that I lacked an interested and passion for what I was studying. As with most careers, you're not going to go far without a passion for what you do. I realized this when I was more than halfway through the program, but I still decided not to leave a job unfinished and got the degree anyways.

Which has led me to where I am now. I always had an interest in technology but had never actually programmed anything until I enrolled in the Software Dev program two and a half years ago. After completing my first year I felt more comfortable and interested in what I studying than I ever did studying biology. I could see myself working in this field after graduating.

Why am I taking a course on open source development (DPS909)?

Well to put it simply, I know next to nothing about open source development. I may know how to program simple applications, but my knowledge mostly comes from a classroom environment via tests, assignments, and labs. However, I believe there's no better way to learn than to actually expose yourself to real world projects. I am hoping this course exposes me to these projects where I can contribute and learn from those more experienced than I am.

What is it about Open Source that attracted me?

The thing that has attracted me to Open Source is the fact that I know very little about open source development. What I have noticed is that developers who are heavily involved in the open source community are passionate about the work they do and the projects they contribute to. This passion and enjoyment that I see about the open source community is what has attracted me to it.

What Am I hoping to accomplish this term (Fall 2022)?

I am hoping to have a good first experience in the open source community. I'm not too sure on what to expect. Ideally, I hope participating in the open source community will help me narrow down what I do and don't like in regards to software development. So I can find out what I'm most passionate about and make a career and a new hobby out of that.

What kinds of projects do you want to work on?

I am hoping I can work with web and mobile app projects, mainly because it's what I'm already familiar with so I want to improve my skillset. But I am also hoping I can work on projects that are out of my comfort zone so I can learn and find new things that I might enjoy.

What was the the GitHub trending repo I researched?

The GitHub repo I researched was a open-source developmental tool called "Amplication" (https://github.com/amplication/amplication).

This tool help developers to create Node.js applications by automatically generating code to reduce time spent on repetitive coding tasks. It can automatically generate back-end applications using Typescript and Node.js and a front-end client built using React.

I chose this repo because this seems like a huge time saver if I ever have the need to build both a back-end and front-end application quickly and efficiently.