The Apache Software Foundation

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• mentoring
• newcomers
• patch

Mentoring: First Patch ¶

A beginner’s first patch on a project can be an intimidating and frustrating experience. Clearly documenting the entire process from checkout to accepted patch greatly lowers the barrier for a new contributor, and makes it more likely that they’ll come back for their second patch.

Here’s some tips on how to do that.

Outline:

• Talk to the project first
  • Make sure it’s wanted/welcome
  • See if there’s already work in progress, or suggestions
  • Find someone to be your advocate
• Finding the source
• Writing a good commit message
• Following up on your pull request
• Learning from your struggle: Improving the documentation