A chill blog about the open source experience at GSoC
3rd Aug, 2025 (my first blog, cut me some slack)
I don't know how to start blogs, so I'm just going to type like I talk.
So, I did get into GSoC, my project was to move the old Angular based Mifos Web app to a new React based web app, it would have a component based architecture and would work with the Apache Fineract Backend using the OpenAPI TypeScript client generator, sounds fancy but it's just me trying not to break stuff and slowly building things that look decent.
name's on the page
kinda cool
One of my first contributions to Mifos was a simple UI fix, but that purple merged icon is everything. One of the best feelings.
name's on the page
first ever PR merged to mifos
Fast forward a bit, I merged around 10 PRs at Mifos, even made a react based prototype which defined the structure of the new web app I work on now. For the GSoC applications, I made a 20 page long proposal, got it reviewed by 4 different people and finally got accepted into the program. 🎉🎉
Over the three months I have been in the program, would rate it 10/10. The community and the mentors guide you and make sure you have a successful project, the actual Google admins are super nice and help us in having a smooth program, you get to learn a lot, and learn how to interact with people while working on production level products.
GSoC also makes you professional without forcing it. You learn how to communicate clearly, write better commits and PRs and how to ask questions. These things stick with you beyond the summer.
If you're reading this and maybe want to try out GSoC, do go for it. There is a lot to learn and it's a great experience overall.
Here are some quick tips that helped me:
- Pick an org or project with a tech stack you're actually comfortable with.
- TALK. Half of it is communication, with mentors and the community. Even if your question feels dumb (it probably is), ask it. It helps you understand the problem better.
- Make small but good contributions.
- Write a solid proposal and don't hesitate to get feedback from people and mentors.
- And honestly, even if you don't get selected, the fact that your code is being used by real people is a win.
Anyways, that's it for now, hope you liked the so called blog.
— Craig
P.S. Thanks to the Mifos community, mentors and the GSoC team for making this possible.