SciPy 2017 Sprints
What is a sprint?
Every year, many in our community dedicate the last 2 days of the SciPy conference to participate in the development of open-source projects to push our ecosystem forward. It is an informal part of the conference, where it’s all about exchanging, hacking and creating. Everyone is welcome, regardless of interest, need, and programming level.
What will you do as an attendee?
There are many things you can do at a sprint from testing code, fixing bugs, adding new features, and improving documentation. Or, contributing to create a brand new project that our ecosystem is missing! You’ll also have the opportunity to work with authors and core contributors of open source packages, as well as, work alongside other developers who are excited about furthering the development of a project, or the creation of a new one.
What are the benefits of attending a sprint?
- Get a chance to make open source python better!
- Get a chance to code along side package authors/contributors, while learning from them.
- Become a power user of a core package by gaining a deeper understanding of its inner workings.
- Improve your resume, since your package contributions can be seen publicly on your github profile.
- Hang with the SciPy crowd at the fun sprint dinner. This year, we will have bowling, pool and air hockey while we enjoy some pizza.
Can I participate?
Yes! Sprints are open to everyone no matter what your programming level of experience! Sprints are a great way to add your contribution to your favorite Python libraries and packages. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, sprints are free of charge for all participants, including the sprint dinner on Saturday evening or other social events.
Don't know how to contribute to a project? No problem, we'll teach you at the Sprint tutorial on Saturday morningThis tutorial is 1-2 hours and dedicated to new sprinters.
What projects do people usually sprint on?
Past projects at SciPy2015/2016 Sprints include:
- matplotlib
- scikit-image
- scikit-learn
- IPython / Jupyter
- NumPy
- Pandas
- yt
- SymPy/SymEngine/PyDy
- VisPy and PyQtGraph
- Gensim
- conda(-forge)
Don’t see your project or one that you think needs help?
Consider running your own sprint! Here is a checklist to evaluate if you would make a good sprint leader:
- Your package is open source.
- Your package is general enough to be useful to others in the SciPy community.
- Your package **or package idea** is mature enough to receive external contributions (code, documentation, ideas).
- You have a strong enough grasp about your package to lead new-comers.
If you can answer Yes to all these questions, you shouldn’t hesitate to run your sprint. You will have a few minutes on Saturday morning to pitch your sprint to attendees, and rally some forces. Don’t wait: register your sprint on the SciPy sprint form so that people can be aware of it, and get ready!
How to “get ready”? You have never run a sprint before?
Don’t worry! We will provide guidance, and we will help to be
successful.
