GSOC 2025 - General Questions

Hello everyone,

My name is Akram, and I am a third-year Computer Engineering student from Egypt, with experience in multiple programming languages, including C/C++, Java, and Python. I also have a strong understanding of programming fundamentals.

I came across Fortran while exploring organizations for GSoC 2025, and it caught my interest. In particular, I found some projects quite interesting, especially fpm and LFortran. After reviewing the GSoC 2025 idea list, I was particularly interested in the following projects:

Before I begin contributing to LFortran and fpm, I have a few questions that I would appreciate some clarification on:

  1. Are the projects listed in the idea list ranked by priority? For example, does the first project in the list have a higher priority than the others?
  2. Regarding the project Allow running Fortran in the browser, I noticed that JavaScript is not mentioned in the “Preferred Skills” section. However, many of the related issues seem to be UI-related (JavaScript). Does this mean that frontend development knowledge is necessary for this project?
  3. It was mentioned that I should submit at least one patch to a Fortran-Lang project. However, does the patch need to be specifically related to the project idea I am planning to apply for, or can it be any contribution to the Fortran-Lang projects?
  4. I have no prior experience with Fortran, but I am eager to learn. Do you have any advice on how I should approach learning Fortran? Are there any specific areas I should focus on or particular resources that you would recommend?

Thank you in advance for your guidance. I look forward to contributing to the Fortran community.

Best regards,
Akram Hany

1 Like

welcome to Discourse @Akram_Hany!

Here are some comments to your questions:

  1. There is no priority in how the projects are listed, so you want to find a match between something you like and where mentors are available. lfortran, stdlib and fpm are all good choices.
  2. The patch requirement is to demonstrate your ability to engage with the community and is not necessarily tied to the gsoc project: just choose from the open issues in the project something you can fix, and open a PR
  3. Fortran Discourse is the right place to discuss with other Fortran enthusiasts, but to learn, there are other great resources such as the fortran-lang website.

Good luck with your gsoc application!

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Thank you very much! I have one last question, if you don’t mind :sweat_smile:.

If I want to discuss something about a specific project with the mentor responsible for it, is it acceptable to reach out to them directly? Or is there a rule or guideline that discourages direct contact with mentors?