There are over 128 million open source projects on GitHub, and every single one of them has the potential to change your life. Whether you're building your GitHub street cred, fixing a bug, adding a feature to a project you personally use, or just fixing typos, every pull request you submit moves you one step further in your development career.

Build Your Reputation

GitHub is the new resume, and every contribution you make builds your collaboration skills and associates your name with the massive community of driven individuals out there making software for fun and profit. You don't have to be making massive changes to make a difference; just helping out wherever you can with whatever you can is more than most will ever do.

You don't even have to contribute code. So many projects would love it if somebody would simply help with writing documentation. There's no time like the present, so let's learn how to find an open source project and make your first contribution right now.

A Simple System for Your First Contribution

Just like anything else in the world, the first time is always the hardest. Here's a simple system with over 6 steps for contributing to open source.

Step 1: Find a Project

First off, you have to find a project to contribute to. I wouldn't recommend individually browsing through millions of projects on GitHub. Instead, take a look at the 'Explore' menu available on the platform. From there, you can browse by topic or go to specific sections like 'good first issue' or 'contributions welcome.'

Honestly, the best place to start contributing is with a project you already use. Take a look at a package.json or a go.mod file in your own work; all of these dependencies are open source and might need your help.

Once you find a project, take a look at the issue queue and find something you're comfortable working on. You might even take this chance to start a conversation on an issue, but either way, this is how you get started.

Step 2: Read the Contribution Guidelines

Alright, so now that you've found an issue you want to fix, the next step is to take a quick look at the project's README file to see if there are any specific rules for contributing. Every project is different, so your mileage may vary.

Step 3: Fork and Clone the Repository

Now that that's out of the way, let's get into the code.

1. Head up to the top of the page for the project you've chosen and hit the Fork button.
2. Choose yourself as the owner and leave everything else as is, then hit the Create fork button. Now you have your very own copy.
3. Click on the Code button and copy the repository path for your fork.
4. Pop open your terminal, clone the project, and create a new branch for your changes.

Here is an example of the commands you might use: ```bash

Clone your forked repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/project-name.git cd project-name

Create a new branch for your feature or fix

git checkout -b my-awesome-fix ```

Step 4: Make Your Changes

Now it's time to make your changes. Your contribution might be just fixing typos, updating documentation, or even introducing a new feature. No matter what it is, be thoughtful and considerate with your changes. Someone else's code is their temple; don't walk in with your muddy shoes on.

Step 5: Commit and Push

Alright, done with your changes? Add, commit, and push them up to your fork. It's that simple.

# Stage your changes
git add .

# Commit your changes with a clear message
git commit -m "Fix: Corrected a typo in the main documentation"

# Push the changes to your forked repository
git push origin my-awesome-fix

Step 6: Open a Pull Request

Now, head over to GitHub, where you should see your branch. Hit the New pull request button, and you will be presented with a screen to open a PR on the parent project with the changes you made in your fork.

Open the PR and leave a comment. If your PR resolves an issue, mention the issue number in the PR notes (e.g., Closes #123) so GitHub can automatically annotate and potentially close the issue.

Step 7: Wait for Review

You've now successfully completed the easy part. Now you wait for feedback and reviews. Some projects will have a stringent review process, and some will just merge your changes with no questions asked, so prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Remember that everyone working on the project likely feels passionate about it, so don't take it personally if you get a bunch of feedback. It's just part of the process.

Final Thoughts

That's how to contribute to open source. Just remember, one of those commits could change your life. Keep contributing to build your portfolio, and someday it might just pay off. Happy coding!