The roadtrip that led to my first Rails commit and how you could make yours too..

The requirement

1. A custom rake task with command line arguments passed to it

2. Run the rake task for specific environments

3. Do this in Rails 4.1.x

The search● Blogs, Stackoverflow

○ Found a blog closest to my requirement

● Rails Guides○ Checked what they said about custom rake tasks

The commit

The actual code that used the changes

The process1. Forking Rails for the first time?

a. Fork the Rails repo from this link2. Already forked Rails repo but not updated it?

a. Do a fetch, checkout master branchb. Rebase local master with remote masterc. You can find the exact git commands here

3. Follow up steps applicable to step 1 and 2 mentioned abovea. Create a meaningful branch nameb. Make your changesc. Use a meaningful commit messaged. Create a Pull Request(PR)e. Add a summary of changes to explain your PR

An example of using meaningful commit details

The experience● Rails core team members

○ very friendly○ approachable

● Commit was merged in almost no time

● Here’s the pull request if you’d like to see it

● I have blogged about the experience here

How you could make your first Rails commit?

● Find missing gaps(I just did that and it helped)

● Refer pointers mentioned on the Rails guides○ An example guideline that they’ve mentioned here -

How you could make your first commit?(contd.)

● Commit as a pair - yes that’s possible :)

● Simply see how others are contributing

● Read articles/videos from others experiences○ How to land your first patch in Rails(Ben Orenstein)○ RailsConf 2014 - Get More Hands on Your Keyboard

(Manik Juneja)○ How I submitted my 1st patch to Rails (Nithin Bekal)

How you could make your first commit?(contd.)

Takeaways

1. Start small but get started

2. You get confidence to contribute more

3. You feel more connected with the community

4. Leap of faith - Can one be more?

Thank you

Photo credits● Open Source Rails - David Anderton(@dwanderton)

Twitter - @mohnishgj

Github - boddhisattva

Blog - boddhisattvadedicates.blogspot.com

Mohnish G Jadwani