One of the best ways to network, grow and learn is to collaborate with others, this gives you the chance to experience diverse ways of solving problems and enables you to connect with different minds. There can never be a better environment for growth.
Disclaimer: This article is not to teach you the basics of git, how to fork a repo or create a pull request.
What is Open Source;
For the general public, it means a project whose source is open for everyone to view or edit. But what you should view open source as, a collaboration of different people and ideas not just to bring a project/product to life, but to also network and learn from one another. Not just for developers who write code, but also for designers, writers and many more. This community is for all.
How to get started;
At this point you have started to think, that sounds interesting but at the same time feel you need to have a certain level of experience to be part of open source community, that's not really the case, this is a community for all and all you need is the zeal to learn, grow and add value. But here are a few things you should know for a smoother flow.
Git
Git as you probably know, is a version control software, which might already be part of your workflow, otherwise, you need to learn basic git. You will also need it companion which is where we store code and manage git repositories. This is also where the collaboration happens, there are a couple of them if you are not already using one, which includes, GitHub, BitBucket, etc.
If you are not already using Git and GitHub, you can check out this course from freecodecamp;
Understand the project
Once you found a project that piqued your interest, I would recommend you take your time to learn and understand the project, what it does and fairly how it works. If it is a framework, module or something you've worked with before and you noticed a bug in the code, issue in the docs or new feature you think adds value to the project not noise, you can address that. No matter how small or big the project is, understanding the project is equally important.
Every contribution counts
One thing to keep in mind is that contributing to a project doesn't always mean adding new features or bug fixes, it can be improving existing solutions to a particular problem or making existing documentation clearer, or even fixing typos. Basically, anything that adds value to a project is always appreciated.
Keep it simple
you've probably heard of Kiss(keep it simple and stupid) because in open source, someone else will try to improve what you've written, if you wrote really complex code that just yourself could understand, it makes it harder for others to understand and improve.
Be humble
For your overall success in the new adventure you are setting out for, you need to be humble, because this is a community with different people and characters. Faking it won't help, There is this saying that goes:
character is like smoke, no matter how hard you try to cover it, it finds its way out.
It is very important to work on your overall character both private and public. This way, you get the most out of this community.
Happy Coding!