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Students

Qualifying students can apply for one of our Google Summer of Code 2016 project ideas between March 14th and March 25th, 2016.

Student Application Mini-FAQ

  • When do I apply?
    March 14th to March 25th
  • How much time is left to apply?
    Countdown to March 25: Student Application Deadline
  • Where do I apply?
    Start from the Google Summer of Code 2016 site
  • What ideas can I apply for?
    You can suggest your own idea(s) or check out our List of Google Summer of Code Ideas
  • What info do you need in the application?
    See the Application Template below for reference
  • What if I still have questions?
    Send a message to the Haiku Mailing List or contact Haiku's Google Summer of Code administrator (Urias McCullough).
  • Are there any other requirements?
    Applying students are required to submit a code contribution to our bugtracker. This could either be a task marked easy, TODO commented in code, Code style cleanup, or any other unlisted task. Submitting code that relates to your project will indicate a higher level of understanding and ability. The number and difficulty of resolved issues will be taken into consideration when evaluating your application. It is suggested to include the keyword "gsoc2016" on tickets that contain submissions, as this facilitates finding them in the future.
  • Why do you want a code contribution before I'm accepted?
    This serves several purposes. It displays that you have the most basic skills that are required: building Haiku from source, running Haiku either natively or inside a VM, and using tools for online collaboration (bug tracker, mailing lists, IRC, etc.). More importantly, it provides our mentors with some insight into each individual student's motivation and abilities. It is an opportunity for you, the student to showcase yourself and to convince us that you are indeed the right person for the job.
  • Should I use Haiku R1/A4 or a newer nightly image?
    R1 alpha 4 was released in November 2012 and is no longer recent enough for development purposes. Please use a GCC 2 Hybrid nightly image. A GCC 2 Hybrid is the current release style for Haiku. It can run and compiled both GCC 2 and GCC 4 code. These nightly images also contain our new package management features which are missing from alpha 4 build. In the event that a new stable build is released before the start of GSoC, you should use that instead.

Making a Positive Impression

In open source work, communication is the key. You will be working remotely, and will need to communicate with your mentor, and other members of the Haiku community, over the Internet. Show us you're able to work this way and interact with other Haikuers in a productive and efficient way.

  • Submit a patch:
    • that relates to your project
    • is quality code that conforms to our Coding Guidelines
    • feel free to submit more than one patch!
  • Have a positive impact on mailing lists, bug tracker, and other public spaces
  • Do your homework ; Show that you have:
    • researched your project
    • an understanding of what needs to be done
    • a proper plan for accomplishing it, which includes quantifiable goals and timelines
  • Submit an alternate proposal, as this provides our mentors with flexibility for choosing the best students, rather than the best project ideas

Words of Advice

Reading and following this advice will do wonders for ensuring that your Google Summer of Code experience will be something to be proud of.

  1. Dedicate at least 30 hours per week
    As Google Summer of Code is essentially a work-from-home internship, you are expected to put in the necessary time. To note, the majority of Haiku's students who spent less than 30 hours per week, failed.
  2. Communicate every other day
    The haiku-gsoc mailing list is to be used at all times by you. Provide regular reports. Nothing formal, just one or two lines. It is important for your mentors to have a clear picture of what you are doing, have done, and plan to do. While being self-sufficient is a worthwhile trait, it is not an ideal trait for a Google Summer of Code participant -- Haiku expects you to utilize our mentors, that is why they are there.
  3. Provide code frequently
    There is a saying in open source -- commit often, commit frequently. Take that advice to heart. Smaller patches and code snippets are easier for the mentors to review. It also gives them more chances to suggest better approaches and keep you on target. In turn, this will make you more productive and more likely to succeed!
  4. When you do not have code, it is even more critical to converse frequently.
    If you aren't coding, what are you doing? How are you moving closer to your goal? What problems are you analyzing? What questions and ideas do you have?

Pass or Fail Criteria

As you know, Google Summer of Code has two evaluation points -- mid-term (June 27) and final (August 23). If you happen to receive a failing mark at either point, you are not paid that portion and your internship comes to an abrupt end. Haiku also introduces a 1/4-term and 3/4-term milestones, to further help you the student with time management. While the 1/4-term and 3/4-term are not recognized by Google, your mentor will use those milestones in determining you mid-term and final evaluation. There are two areas that are considered during the evaluation: the code output and communication/interactions.

A word of caution -- do not expect to make miracles during the week of mid-term or final evaluations. Instead, expect your mentor to evaluate your progress on the first day of the window.

  1. Code.
    This includes everything from 'commit worthy' patches to all the code (and non-code, such as design documents or pseudo code) leading up to that polished patch. In other words, if for some reason you and your mentor pursue an approach that turns out to be a dead end you will not be punished.
  2. Communication.
    This includes discussions on the haiku-gsoc list, talking with haiku mentors on IRC, posting the Milestone Blog/Email Reports.

In other words, you will be writing code and talking with one or more mentors on a daily basis. Anything less will hurt your mid-term and final evaluation! Do not expect to be able to cram days, weeks, or months of work into a shorter period and receive a passing evaluation.

Application Template

This application template has two sections.

  1. A fill-in-the-blank section with basic information
  2. An open-ended section with suggestions for content to include. Feel free to add more.

(Fill in)

  • Full name:
  • Timezone:
  • Email address:
  • IRC username (freenode.net):
  • Trac username (dev.haiku-os.org):
  • Trac ticket(s) containing patches for Haiku:
  • GitHub (or other public) repository:
  • Will you treat Google Summer of Code as full time employment?
  • How many hours per week will you work?
  • List all obligations (and their dates) that may take time away from GSoC (a second job, vacations, classes, ...):
  • Are you using Google Summer of Code to fullfill a university requirement -- internship, class credit, ..? (If yes, you need to provide confirmation that your school approves. Remember, Google Summer of Code is a remote software development internship.)
  • Estimated last day of classes/exams:
  • Estimated first day of classes:

(Open-ended)

  1. Introduce yourself. (Who you are. Why you chose Haiku. What programming experience you have.)
  2. Project Proposal. (Title. Description. Goals.)
  3. Timeline. Include what you plan to have accomplished by the end of:
    • Community bonding period (April 22)
    • Quarter-term (June 6)
    • Mid-term (June 27)
    • Three-quarter-term (July 18)
    • Pencils down date (August 23)
    • After Google Summer of Code
  4. Expectations from Mentors. (What do you expect Haiku's mentors to help you with?)

If you have questions about your application for a Haiku idea, please contact Haiku's Google Summer of Code administrator (Matt Madia), or send an email to the Haiku mailing list.

Resources available to students

In addition to the mentor(s) assigned to each student, the following resources will be available where inquiries can be made in order to get assistance during your Google Summer of Code project.

For more information

For more information about general information and eligibility for Google Summer of Code 2016, please check out the following Google resources:

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