Ask HN: How to contribute to Open Source projects without feeling overwhelmed?

[ra7]

I've looked at a number of Python open source projects to contribute, but it always feels daunting to start contributing. How do I overcome that? I know some obvious strategies are to read the code, hang out on the IRC channel or fix documentation issues. Have you done anything different?

Thanks!

[ErikRogneby]

The best way to start contributing is by using an open source project and open issues on any problems you find. Or for features that you would like. Then see if you can fix one of those small issues yourself. Fork, fix, and submit your pull request.

Documentation issues are also a great place to start and can have you digging in the code to truly understand what an API or method are suppose to do.

[mjhea0]

I can help you with getting started, using some open source projects I have. This one def. needs help -> https://github.com/mjhea0/Scrapy-Samples

Fork, and then clone it down. Test it out. Then see if you can debug. :)