Ask HN: Please help a first-year CS student contribute to OSS
Hi HN,<p>I&#x27;m a first-year CS student. I know a little bit of Python, JavaScript, SQL and C# - all to the level one would expect of someone who has completed a CS101-styled class in that language (except maybe JS).<p>I want to contribute towards something useful, and I want to do so as part of a community. The obvious answer is to look for an open source project, because they&#x27;re everywhere, and all love volunteers.<p>But I have a problem. I don&#x27;t know how or where to begin. I look at projects that look exciting, yet I become dumbfounded. I need to begin somewhere - some project and&#x2F;or community - that is simple... I <i>feel</i> that I need hand-holding, but who could possible have the time for that? As much as I&#x27;d like to, I know that I - sadly - do not have the time to hand-hold beginners in my own area of knowledge (as well as a CS student, I&#x27;m a finance graduate).<p>I would hope that such assistance might result from a project or community structured as such. Surely I am not the only one in this boat. Does there exist some sort of structured open source project and&#x2F;or community that offers such pseudo-hand-holding? Or, am I starting to early; must I learn more about data structures and software design before looking towards OS?