Good Open Source Projects to Contribute: A Developer's Guide

We can all agree that contributing to open source projects is extremely valuable for developers.

In this post, I'll provide a curated list of open source projects across various programming languages and categories that are ideal for new contributions.

You'll discover projects tailored for beginners looking to get started, as well as suggestions for more experienced developers to expand their skills. By the end, you'll have actionable next steps to make your first open source contribution.

Introduction to Open Source Contributions

Contributing to open source software provides valuable opportunities for developers of all skill levels to engage with the broader software community. By participating in open source projects, contributors can gain practical experience, expand their professional network, build an online portfolio, and give back to the ecosystem that powers much of the software they use regularly.

Understanding Open Source

Open source software has source code that anyone can freely access, modify, and share. This type of software often has licenses that promote collaboration and community development. Contributors provide various forms of value to open source projects, like submitting bug fixes, building new features, writing documentation, assisting newcomers, and more. Their efforts help projects thrive over the long term.

In turn, contributors reap multiple benefits through open source participation. This creates a mutually beneficial dynamic between maintainers who operate projects and contributors who engage with them. Open source fosters a pay-it-forward culture, where today's beneficiaries can become tomorrow's benefactors.

Advantages of Open Source Engagement

Contributing provides avenues to gain valuable hands-on coding experience. It allows testing ideas or learning new technologies through practical application. The publicly visible nature of contributions can lead to impressive portfolio pieces that demonstrate skills to employers or clients.

Participating also expands professional networks from connecting with maintainers and fellow contributors. It's a chance to work on diverse, interesting projects and be part of a global community. Contributors can even attain notoriety and influence in their field based on longtime open source involvement.

For those relying heavily on various software tools day to day, contributing back is an excellent way to reciprocate value to important projects. It helps strengthen the open source ecosystems we all benefit from.

How do I find open source projects to contribute?

Finding open source projects that are beginner-friendly and accepting contributions can seem daunting at first. Here are some tips to discover great open source projects to contribute to:

Finding Projects

Use Open-Source Directories

Explore different platforms that list different open-source projects. Websites like GitHub Explore, GitLab Explore, Open Source Friday and others all list projects, making it easier to search through.

Evaluating Projects

Assess Activity Level

Look at the recent commits, issues, and releases to gauge how active development is. More activity generally means it's easier to get feedback and guidance.

Check Beginner-Friendliness

Many projects explicitly tag issues as "good first issues" for new contributors. Also look for a CONTRIBUTING file that welcomes new developers.

Match to Your Skills

Find projects using languages and tools you already know rather than trying to learn them while contributing. This makes it easier to dive in.

Starting Small

Tackle Documentation

Improving documentation, like READMEs, is a great way to start contributing. Every project benefits from great docs!

Fix Bugs

Look for simple bugs to fix, like UI tweaks or tiny feature additions. They let you get familiar with the codebase.

What is the most popular open source project?

GitHub is arguably the most popular open source project, with over 100 million repositories as of 2022. GitHub provides developers with a robust platform to host, review, and manage open source code. Some key reasons why GitHub leads as the most popular open source platform include:

Massive community: Over 60 million developers collaborate on GitHub. This huge community enables projects to gain visibility, contributors, and real-world testing.
Discoverability: GitHub's explore page surfaces trending projects across languages and topics. This allows developers to easily find promising projects to contribute to.
Contribution transparency: GitHub provides transparency into projects through contribution graphs, pulse pages, and granular commit histories. This builds trust and lowers the barrier to entry for new contributors.
Project management tools: Built-in Kanban boards, issues, pull requests, documentation, and wikis centralize project coordination and tasks on one platform.
Developer ecosystem integration: GitHub integrates deeply into the workflows of most developers through IDE extensions, CI/CD pipelines, and automation tooling.

Beyond GitHub, projects like Linux, Mozilla, Kubernetes, React, and Python also have very large, active open source communities. However GitHub leads as the underlying infrastructure making open source collaboration possible across projects. Its focus on transparency, contribution, and community have made open source development more accessible than ever.

How do you contribute to an open source program?

Contributing to open source can be immensely rewarding, allowing developers to hone their skills while collaborating with like-minded professionals. However, the process does require following some best practices. Here's a step-by-step guide for making your first open source contribution:

Use Git and GitHub

Most open source projects are hosted on GitHub, which makes contributing easy by providing tools for forking, cloning, and managing branches. Follow these steps:

Fork the repository to create your own copy
Clone your fork locally using Git
Create a new branch to work on your changes
Make code changes, commit them
Push your commits to your forked repository
Create a pull request for the project owners to review and potentially merge your work

Review Contribution Guidelines

Before you contribute, read the project's CONTRIBUTING file for guidelines around coding standards, testing, documentation etc. Following these results in higher chances of your PR getting approved.

Find An Issue

Look through open issues in the repository, especially those marked good first issue or help wanted. Fixing existing bugs or improving documentation are great ways to start contributing.

Communicate

If working on a specific issue, comment on it to indicate your intent and ask any clarifying questions of the maintainers. Keep project members updated on your progress with the work through comments.

So get out there, fork your favorite project, and open a PR! Contributing enables you to learn from experienced open source developers and make a difference in products you use.

Can you make money contributing to open source?

Yes, there are several ways developers can make money by contributing to open source software projects:

Get paid by your employer

Approach your manager about allocating a portion of your work hours for open source contributions
Explain how it benefits the company (e.g. improving software you rely on)
Easier if company uses the project, but get creative in pitching it

Become a contractor

Companies hire contractors specifically for open source work
Find roles on job boards like Upwork, Fossjobs, LinkedIn
Good way to get exposure and build portfolio

Crowdfunding

Successful projects can raise funds through Patreon, Open Collective, GitHub Sponsors
Money funds key contributors and future development
Examples: Vue.js, Babel, React Native Radio

Bounties

Companies like Google offer bounties for fixing issues
Bounties posted on platforms like Gitcoin or BountySource
Earn anywhere from $100 to $10,000+ per bounty

So while not trivial, there are ample ways for talented developers to monetize open source work through employer sponsorship, contracting, crowdfunding, or bounties.

Identifying Good Open Source Projects to Contribute

When looking to contribute to open source projects, it's important to evaluate them carefully first. Here are some key criteria to consider:

Evaluating Project Activity and Health

Check when the last commit or release was made - recently active projects show signs of life
Review open issues and pull requests - active discussion indicates engaged maintainers
See how many contributors are participating - more contributors means greater support

An active, well-maintained project is more likely to welcome new contributors and provide mentorship.

Finding the Right Tech Stack

Identify projects using languages and frameworks you want experience with
Focus on tech stacks applicable to your career goals or personal interests
Consider both front-end (JavaScript, CSS) and back-end (Python, Java) projects

Choosing a project with technologies you're motivated to learn will make your contributions more fulfilling.

Open Source Projects to Contribute to for Beginners

Review the project's documentation quality and contributor guidelines
Look for tags like "good first issue" or "help wanted" on open issues
gauge how responsive maintainers are to questions on forums or GitHub

A welcoming, well-documented project lowers the barrier to entry for new contributors.

Determining the Impact of Your Contributions

Consider how many users or companies rely on the project
Weigh its integration with other software projects
Review download stats, GitHub stars, etc.

Contributing to widely-adopted projects multiplies the reach of your efforts.

First Steps in Open Source Contributions

Making your first open source contribution can seem daunting, but breaking it down into simple steps makes it very manageable. Here is a beginner's guide to making a successful first pull request:

Choosing Your First Issue to Tackle

Look for issues tagged as "good first issue" or "beginner-friendly". These are specifically designed for new contributors.
Start with simple bugs and small features, not big architecture changes or new modules.
Assess if you have the required skills and capacity to fix the issue in a reasonable timeframe.

Navigating the Project Codebase

Review the project README file for an overview of the architecture.
Explore documentation like API references to better understand the code.
Localize the files related to the issue to limit scope creep. Focus only on relevant areas.

Making Your Contribution Count

Study contributing guidelines on standards for code style, testing, commit messages etc.
Pay attention to code design principles like separation of concerns, DRY, single responsibility.
Write clean, modular and well-commented code that is easy for others to understand.

Submitting Your First Pull Request

Fork the repository and create a descriptively named branch off main.
Make focused commits related to the issue that would make good standalone changes.
Open a pull request against upstream main detailing your changes.
Use pull request template if available to provide context on changes.

Receiving and Acting on Code Review Feedback

Be responsive to code review comments in a timely manner.
Ask clarifying questions on feedback if something is unclear.
Update branch with additional commits to address review feedback.
Request maintainer to re-review once feedback is addressed.

Making that first open source contribution is a big step forward. Stay engaged with project communities and continue looking for ways to contribute back to open source!

Handpicked Open Source Projects for Developer Contributions

Open source projects provide a great way for developers to gain experience by contributing code, fixing bugs, or adding features. Here are some beginner-friendly open source projects across various categories that welcome contributions.

Front-End Open Source Projects to Contribute

Front-end web development projects like Vue, Bootstrap, and WordPress have vibrant open source communities.

Vue - A popular JavaScript framework for building user interfaces. It has an approachable codebase and dedicated forums for new contributors.
Bootstrap - The most popular HTML, CSS, and JS library for responsive web projects. Beginners can contribute by fixing Bootstrap bugs.
WordPress - Leading open-source CMS powered by PHP. Contribute by developing WordPress plugins and themes.

Machine Learning for the Curious Coders

Get started with machine learning by contributing to these popular projects.

TensorFlow - Google's end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Contribute tutorials, improve documentation, fix bugs.
Keras - A user-friendly neural networks library written in Python. It welcomes PRs for enhancing capabilities.
PyTorch - Facebook's Python libraries for building deep learning projects. New contributors can implement PyTorch enhancements.

Open Source Mobile App Projects

Build and contribute to cross-platform mobile apps with these open source projects.

React Native - Facebook's framework for writing natively rendering mobile apps using React. Contribute by fixing React Native issues.
Flutter - Google's UI toolkit for crafting native interfaces for iOS and Android. Contribute plugins, themes, and libraries.

Java Open Source Projects to Contribute

Java powers enterprise systems and big data pipelines. Contribute to these popular projects.

Apache Kafka - Distributed streaming platform handling trillions of events a day. Contribute improvements and new Kafka integrations.
Spring Framework - Application development framework for the Java platform. Contribute bug fixes, security improvements, and optimizations.

Programming Language Specific Contributions

Dive into open source projects tailored to specific programming language communities.

Python Open Source Projects to Contribute for Beginners

Python is an incredibly popular language used by beginner and experienced developers alike. Thankfully, there are many Python open source projects for beginners to sink their teeth into, with welcoming communities to help new contributors. Some great options include:

Pygame - This game development framework is written in Python and helps beginners create 2D games with ease. Contributing to the Pygame codebase or documentation is very approachable.
Matplotlib - As a 2D plotting Python library, Matplotlib powers tons of data visualizations and graphics. Beginners can tackle issues tagged as "good first issue" to add features or fix bugs.
Django - The Django web framework has an active community and comprehensive contributor's guide for newbies. Tackling tickets labeled "easy pickings" gets new contributors familiar with Django's architecture.
Python Core - Even Python's main codebase has junior jobs suited for people learning how to contribute to open source. These prepare you for higher impact contributions down the road.

Overall, contributing to established Python projects both shares your skills and builds critical experience collaborating on production-level software with skilled peers.

Open Source Projects to Contribute JavaScript Expertise

For front-end developers with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS skills, prominent open source web frameworks have lots of ways to contribute:

React - Facebook's React library completely transformed client-side web development. As one of the most popular JavaScript projects, React welcomes improvements from documentation to coding.
Vue - As an approachable alternative to React and Angular, Vue.js has an especially beginner-friendly community. Check the "good first issue" tag in their GitHub repo.
jQuery - The jQuery library still powers many production sites. Contributing to jQuery modules, bug fixes, and documentation helps you give back to a project many rely on.
Bootstrap - With Bootstrap as the leading CSS framework, front-end devs can make their mark improving code, expanding components and examples, enhancing accessibility, and more.

Contributing to frameworks like React, Vue, jQuery, and Bootstrap builds real-world expertise - which pays dividends throughout a JavaScript-focused career.

Python Open-Source Projects for Beginners GitHub

For Python open source projects to contribute to as a beginner, GitHub makes discovering options easy with its robust search tools:

Search GitHub for "good first issue label:python" - These are Python projects explicitly seeking help on beginner-friendly tasks.
Look for projects with consistent recent activity - Active maintainer support helps guide newbies.
Filter by number of contributors - More contributors means it's easier to get mentoring and feedback.
Review required skills listed - Match projects to your Python knowledge areas.
Scan beginner focused tags like "easy" or "entry-level" - Signs the projects welcomes new contributors.
Check contributor statistics - High numbers of merged pull requests signifies an engaged community.

Using GitHub filters to find welcoming Python open source projects lets beginners contribute with confidence - establishing credibility within the open source ecosystem.

Maintaining Momentum in Open Source Contributions

Contributing to open source can be immensely rewarding. However, it's important to maintain momentum to become an integral member of the community. Here are some best practices:

Effective Communication within Open Source Communities

Clear, constructive communication is key when collaborating in open source. When discussing issues or proposing changes, be sure to:

Provide context to help others understand your perspective
Suggest specific improvements or alternatives
Remain courteous even in disagreement

By communicating effectively, you build connections that drive project momentum.

Mastering and Expanding Your Skill Set

To maximize your impact, focus on:

Mastering your current project area
Learning adjacent and more complex areas
Improving your development workflow

This makes you an invaluable expert able to take on broader issues.

Achieving Greater Responsibility in Projects

Increased responsibility signifies meaningful contribution. Work towards earning:

Reviewer status to approve contributions
Committer status to directly improve code

These roles reflect your solid understanding of project objectives.

Advocating for Your Open Source Project

Promoting your projects grows engaged users and contributors. Consider:

Writing blog posts and tutorials
Speaking at local meetups
Posting on forums and social media

Spreading the word demonstrates your passion and investment in the project's success.

By following these tips, you can build momentum that helps you, your projects, and the open source community thrive.

Final Thoughts on Open Source Contribution

Contributing to open source can be an incredibly rewarding experience for developers of all skill levels. Not only does it allow you to improve existing projects and give back to the community, but it also lets you enhance your own skills and build an impressive portfolio.

As you embark on your open source contribution journey, keep the following best practices in mind:

Summarizing the Contribution Journey

Choose beginner-friendly projects that are well-documented and actively maintained
Start small by fixing bugs, improving docs, or adding tests before tackling big features
Ask questions if you're unsure about anything - maintainers are usually happy to help
Follow contribution guidelines and be respectful in all communications
Leverage tools like GitHub and Git to easily propose and discuss changes
Highlight your contributions on social media and in job interviews

Next Steps for Aspiring Contributors

Browse GitHub Explore or Open Source Guides to find projects
Read contribution docs carefully before making a pull request
Join project Slack/Discord channels to engage with the community
Set aside dedicated time each week for open source work
Consider organizing local meetups for new contributors

The open source ecosystem thrives on collaboration. By pitching in on projects you use and care about, you can help make them even better while advancing your own skills.