Open Source; Here I come!!

It all started with a seemingly insignificant bug that I encountered while working at ThoughtWorks. Pandas, a popular library widely used in the data science community, was the tool of choice for analyzing and manipulating data. However, I stumbled upon a bug in the library’s merge functionality.

At first, I was skeptical about reporting the bug, but curiosity propelled me forward. I meticulously examined the library’s code, line by line, and identified the specific code causing the issue. With this knowledge, I promptly reported the bug to the library’s open-source repository.

To my surprise, the maintainers[@jreback] of the library responded on the same day with the encouraging words, “PR (pull request) would be accepted”. These four simple words had a profound impact on me. They conveyed a sense of openness, inclusivity, and appreciation for contributions from the community.

Inspired by this positive response, I embarked on a journey of open-source contribution. Starting with the small bug fix (my first PR), I actively sought out other open issues in libraries that I frequently used in my work. Gradually, I expanded my contributions to more than five open-source libraries or platforms (All my contributions).

Through this involvement, I forged new connections with fellow contributors, and gained recognition from esteemed data science communities like DVC and DagsHub. This also got me the opportunity to publish blog posts in collaboration with talented individuals from DagsHub. The experience was incredibly rewarding both personally and professionally.

As I continued to contribute, I dedicated every weekend to working on one or two pull requests. Each time my contributions were accepted and my name appeared in the list of collaborators, it filled me with a sense of accomplishment and pride. The open-source community had welcomed me with open arms, and I was grateful for the opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

Reflecting on this journey, I realized that even the smallest contributions can have a significant impact. Open-source software is built on the collective efforts of individuals who share a common goal of creating and improving tools that benefit everyone. By actively participating in the open-source community, I not only contributed to the development of valuable software but also gained invaluable skills, knowledge, and connections that have shaped my career.