# outline of learn.scientific-python.org materials

## current flow

- getting started (overview page with summaries of the following pages)
- why contribute
- five ways to contrib without coding
- choose a project
- first contribution

## Planned but not written yet

- tools

## proposals

1. add to the "getting started" page:
- how to find the terminal app on your OS
- how to check whether you have git installed
2. add to the maintainers guide
- [how to interact with new contributors](https://hackmd.io/@kne42/rJlzGSFBh)
- how to be welcoming
- dont micromanage
- recognizing contributions/achievements
- managing issues
- adding labels
- adding milestones
- when to assign issues
- creating "epics" / GH projects ("issue of issues")
- when to close issues
- PR reviews
- providing constructive feedback
- comprehensive reviews
- nitpicks
- [managing conflict](https://hackmd.io/@kne42/Bykkx5cSn)
- assume positive intent but acknowledge negative impact
- code of conduct
- when to step in
- maintaining a stable & healthy project
- CI/CD/automation
- preventing burnout
- making releases (and automating them!)
- code owners
- managing tech debt
3. Way to contribute
- Improving documentation
- Try out the existing code samples in the documentation and check if it works or not (sometimes because of version upgrade the existing code sample on documentation might be broken)
- Add code samples for the documented method/functions
- Translations
- Native language speakers can also help in creating tutorials and guides in local languages (these could be mostly 101s and getting started with the project tutorial)
- Participating in the community
- *Convert the existing text into bullet points for better readability*
- Join discussion forums (Discourse, Discord, Gitter, Slack etc.)
- Join community meetings or office hours
- If you're familiar with the project, help the newcomers by responding on the issues
- Social media outreach - Tweet/Mastodon/LinkedIn/Instagram
- Writing blogs
- Newsletter updates
- Code sprints
- Hackathons

## Ecosystem

We can add the packages by domain stack in this guide. I have a document for this here so we can see which packages are missing.

https://hackmd.io/@C7rAAfvvS7OQ38ZBo0ddlQ/ByxpaXFSn

---

# Here's a proposal for the "getting started" page:

## Choosing a project to work on

How do you choose which project to contribute to?
There's no single best way to choose a project, but here are some questions to think about when choosing:

- *Is there a project related to your background or your research?* E.g., astronomers might prefer to contribute to [astropy]() or [sunpy]().
- *Is there a package you're already using?* Even well-established general-purpose packages like [numpy](), [scipy](), or [matplotlib]() are still growing and changing, and need contributors.
- *Is the project actively developed?* Take a look at the project's repository to see how recent the last update was, and how many people seem to be involved.
- *Is the community healthy?* Project maintainers will be reviewing your work and mentoring you through the contribution process, so look to see if the interactions on the project's pull request pages are polite and welcoming.

One last tip is to look at the project's open issues to see if there are any tagged as "easy" or "good first issue", and if any of those look appealing to you.

For a more detailed discussion, also take a look at our `Choosing a project` video, linked below.

## Tools of the trade

As with any trade, there are certain fundamental tools you should learn.
Since the ecosystem is built in Python, you'll need to know how to program in that language.
Other tools we use daily include:

- git and GitHub
- the command-line terminal, and
- a plain-text editor or [integrated development environment]() ("IDE").

In this video series, the basics of using these tools are covered along the way.
To learn more about them, take at the links below:

- Command line terminal:
- https://swcarpentry.github.io/shell-novice/
- https://tutorial.djangogirls.org/en/intro_to_command_line/
- Git and GitHub:
- https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git
- https://docs.github.com/en/get-started
- Text editors / IDEs:
- https://transitionintotech.com/choose-your-code-editor/
- https://realpython.com/python-ides-code-editors-guide/ <!-- this is out of date; e.g. it says VSCode is mac/windows only -->

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## Some missing things

- Read me (contributing guide) for https://github.com/scientific-python/learn.scientific-python.org