Summer of Code - Getting Started: Difference between revisions

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{{Note|GNU Octave is applying to be a [https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/programs/2023/organizations/gnu-octave mentoring organization for GSoC 2023].}}
{{Note|GNU Octave is a [https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/programs/2023/organizations/gnu-octave mentoring organization for GSoC 2023].}}


Since 2011 the GNU Octave project has successfully mentored:
Since 2011 the GNU Octave project has successfully mentored:
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# 😉💬 '''We want to get to know you (before the deadline).  Communicate with us.'''
# 😉💬 '''We want to get to know you (before the deadline).  Communicate with us.'''
#* Join [https://octave.discourse.group/ '''Octave Discourse'''] or [[IRC]]. Using a nickname is fine.
#* Join [https://octave.discourse.group/ '''Octave Discourse'''] or [[IRC]] for general discussion and to ask questions (Please do not use the bug tracker for general GSOC inquiries unrelated to specific bugs found with Octave.) Using a nickname is fine.
#* Show us that you're motivated to work on Octave 💻.  There is no need to present an overwhelming CV 🏆; evidence of involvement with Octave is more important.
#* Show us that you're motivated to work on Octave 💻.  There is no need to present an overwhelming CV 🏆; evidence of involvement with Octave is more important.
#* '''<span style="color:darkblue;">If you never talked to us, we will likely reject your proposal</span>''', even it looks good 🚮
#* '''<span style="color:darkblue;">If you never talked to us, we will likely reject your proposal</span>''', even it looks good 🚮
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The following suggested projects are distilled from the [[Projects]] page for the benefit of potential SoC participants.  You can also look at our [[Summer of Code|completed past projects]] for more inspiration.
The following suggested projects are distilled from the [[Projects]] page for the benefit of potential SoC participants.  You can also look at our [[Summer of Code|completed past projects]] for more inspiration.


{{Note|Do you use Octave at your working place or university? Do you have some numerical project in mind?  You are always welcome to '''propose your own projects'''.  If you are passionate about your project, it will be easy to find an Octave developer to mentor and guide you.}}
{{Note|Do you use Octave at your working place or university? Do you have some numerical project in mind?  You are always welcome to '''propose your own projects'''.  If you are passionate about your project, it will be easy to find an Octave developer to mentor and guide you. Please note that for such a proposal to be successful it will almost certainly involve initiating pre-proposal discussion over at the [https://octave.discourse.group Octave Discourse forum].}}


== Adding regression GAM and kNN classification functionality in statistics package ==
Generalized Additive Models and k-Nearest Neighbor algorithms are two important tools in advanced statistics used for regression and classification problems, respectively. The statistics package, although heavily developed during the past year, still lacks any functionality regarding these two algorithms.
The scope is to implement both the respective class def objects as well as the relevant functions in a MATLAB compatible way.
* '''Project size''' [[#Project sizes | [?]]] and '''Difficulty'''
: ~350 hours (medium)
* '''Required skills'''
: Octave, familiarity with statistical methods
* '''Potential mentors'''
: [https://octave.discourse.group/u/pr0m1th3as Andreas Bertsatos]
== Custom re-implementation of the texi2html (v.1.82) command line tool ==
Implement a custom perl script to relax the dependency of the pkg-octave-doc package on texi2html (v.1.82) command line tool, which is no longer maintained or further developed but also not readily available to all linux distributions.
This will also help improve the speed of pkg-octave-doc processing large packages, which contain specific tags (such as @math) which are currently handled within Octave code.
* '''Project size''' [[#Project sizes | [?]]] and '''Difficulty'''
: ~350 hours (hard)
* '''Required skills'''
: Perl, Octave, Texinfo, HTML
* '''Potential mentors'''
: [https://octave.discourse.group/u/pr0m1th3as Andreas Bertsatos]
== A function search index website for all Octave Packages ==
Develop additional functionality for the pkg-octave-doc package than will search all pkg compatible packages listed in Octave Packages, enumerate the available functions from each package, and built a website with search capability that will list all functions’ names and their respective package(s). The function list should have links corresponding to their documentation or/and source code. This could be integrated in the current Octave Packages website and the implemented tool can be part of the current CI (used for testing a package before merging a new release) and automatically update the website with every package release. Alternatively, it can be a stand alone service which will monitor Octave Packages repository for any merged PR and update the function search index website accordingly.
* '''Project size''' [[#Project sizes | [?]]] and '''Difficulty'''
: ~350 hours (medium)
* '''Required skills'''
: Octave, Bootstap 5 framework
* '''Potential mentors'''
: [https://octave.discourse.group/u/pr0m1th3as Andreas Bertsatos]
<!--
== ode15{i,s} : Matlab Compatible DAE solvers ==
== ode15{i,s} : Matlab Compatible DAE solvers ==


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* '''Potential mentors'''
* '''Potential mentors'''
: Francesco Faccio, [https://octave.discourse.group/u/cdf Carlo de Falco], [https://octave.discourse.group/u/marco_caliari Marco Caliari], Jacopo Corno, [https://octave.discourse.group/u/schoeps Sebastian Schöps]
: Francesco Faccio, [https://octave.discourse.group/u/cdf Carlo de Falco], [https://octave.discourse.group/u/marco_caliari Marco Caliari], Jacopo Corno, [https://octave.discourse.group/u/schoeps Sebastian Schöps]
-->


== Symbolic package ==
<!--
 
The [[Symbolic package]] provides symbolic computing and other [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_algebra_system computer algebra system] tools.  The main component of Symbolic is a pure m-file class "@sym" which uses the Python package [https://www.sympy.org SymPy] to do (most of) the actual computations.  The package aims to expose much of the functionality of SymPy while also providing a high level of compatibility with the Matlab Symbolic Math Toolbox.  The Symbolic package requires communication between Octave and Python.  In 2016 a GSoC project successfully re-implemented this communication using the new [[Pythonic|Pythonic package]].  In 2022, a GSoC project revitalized and improved the maintainability of the package.
 
Possible ideas for improving the Symbolic package:
* exposing more functionality of SymPy with ''less glue'' in between.  For example, we could allow OO-style method calls such as <code>f.diff(x)</code> as well as <code>diff(f, x)</code>.
* Fix the storage of non-expressions by working with upstream SymPy: currently we rely on deprecated functionality in SymPy.
* Fix classdef-related issues in Octave itself.
 
== PolarAxes and Plotting Improvements ==
== PolarAxes and Plotting Improvements ==


Octave currently provides supports for polar axes by using a Cartesian 2-D axes and adding a significant number of properties and callback listeners to get things to work.  What is needed is the implementation of a dedicated "polaraxes" object in C++.  This will require creating a new fundamental graphics object type, and programming in C++/OpenGL to render the object.  When "polaraxes" exists as an object type, then m-files will be written to access them, including polaraxes.m, polarplot.m, rticks.m, rticklabels.m, thetaticks, thetaticklabels.m, rlim.m, thetalim.m.  This relates to bug {{bug|49804}}.
Octave currently provides support for polar axes by using a Cartesian 2-D axes and adding a significant number of properties and callback listeners to get things to work.  What is needed is the implementation of a dedicated "polaraxes" object in C++.  This will require creating a new fundamental graphics object type, and programming in C++/OpenGL to render the object.  When "polaraxes" exists as an object type, then m-files will be written to access them, including polaraxes.m, polarplot.m, rticks.m, rticklabels.m, thetaticks, thetaticklabels.m, rlim.m, thetalim.m.  This relates to bug {{bug|49804}}.


* '''Project size''' [[#Project sizes | [?]]] and '''Difficulty'''
* '''Project size''' [[#Project sizes | [?]]] and '''Difficulty'''
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* '''Potential mentors'''
* '''Potential mentors'''
: [https://octave.discourse.group/u/rik Rik]
: [https://octave.discourse.group/u/rik Rik]
-->


<!--
== Table datatype ==
== Table datatype ==


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: Octave, C/C++
: Octave, C/C++
* '''Potential mentors'''
* '''Potential mentors'''
: [https://octave.discourse.group/u/Abdallah_Elshamy Abdallah]
: ???
-->


<!--
== TISEAN package ==
== TISEAN package ==


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* '''Potential mentors'''
* '''Potential mentors'''
: [https://octave.discourse.group/u/kakila KaKiLa]
: [https://octave.discourse.group/u/kakila KaKiLa]
-->


<!--
== Better tab completion ==
== Better tab completion ==


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To get more examples, see how bash completion works. You can type git or hg and then tab and it will give the list of available commands. If you type "sort --r" and then tab, it gives the list of options to sort starting with "--r", etc.
To get more examples, see how bash completion works. You can type git or hg and then tab and it will give the list of available commands. If you type "sort --r" and then tab, it gives the list of options to sort starting with "--r", etc.


* '''Project size''' [[#Project sizes | [?]]] and '''Difficulty'''
: ~350 hours (medium)
* '''Required skills'''
: ???
* '''Potential mentors'''
: ???
-->
<!--
== Graphics rendering back to front sorting ==
== Graphics rendering back to front sorting ==
Several incompatibilities have been identified in how Octave plots transparent objects in 3D, causing certain transparent objects to hide opaque objects behind them even though they're not supposed to. The vast majority of them were isolated to one problem: if the objects to be drawn are rendered such that the one farthest away from the viewer is rendered first and nearer objects are rendered on top of that, then transparency would be automatically achieved, but this needs very careful coding to stay performant and to avoid rendering objects that will be overwritten fully by others. See [https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?57980] for a summary.
Several incompatibilities have been identified in how Octave plots transparent objects in 3D, causing certain transparent objects to hide opaque objects behind them even though they're not supposed to. The vast majority of them were isolated to one problem: if the objects to be drawn are rendered such that the one farthest away from the viewer is rendered first and nearer objects are rendered on top of that, then transparency would be automatically achieved, but this needs very careful coding to stay performant and to avoid rendering objects that will be overwritten fully by others. See [https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?57980] for a summary.


This project can be a GSoC for a student who understands 3D graphics rendering.
* '''Project size''' [[#Project sizes | [?]]] and '''Difficulty'''
: ~350 hours (medium)
* '''Required skills'''
: ???
* '''Potential mentors'''
: ???
-->
 
<!--
== Symbolic package ==
 
The [[Symbolic package]] provides symbolic computing and other [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_algebra_system computer algebra system] tools via the [https://sympy.org SymPy Python library].  GSoC projects in 2016 and 2022 improved the package.
 
There are no specific plans for Symbolic in GSoC 2023, but improvements elsewhere that would help Symbolic include:
* Developing the Octave-Pythonic package.
* Fix the storage of non-expressions by working with upstream SymPy: currently we rely on deprecated functionality in SymPy.
* Improvements and fixes to classdef-related issues in Octave itself.
* Developing the Octave Jupyter kernel.
 
* '''Project size''' [[#Project sizes | [?]]] and '''Difficulty'''
: ~350 hours (medium)
* '''Required skills'''
: ???
* '''Potential mentors'''
: ???
-->


= Project sizes =
= Project sizes =

Revision as of 17:19, 11 March 2023

Info icon.svg

Since 2011 the GNU Octave project has successfully mentored:

in Summer of Code (SoC) programs by Google and ESA.

Those SoC programs aim to advertise open-source software development and to attract potential new Octave developers.

Steps toward a successful application

  1. 😉💬 We want to get to know you (before the deadline). Communicate with us.
    • Join Octave Discourse or IRC for general discussion and to ask questions (Please do not use the bug tracker for general GSOC inquiries unrelated to specific bugs found with Octave.) Using a nickname is fine.
    • Show us that you're motivated to work on Octave 💻. There is no need to present an overwhelming CV 🏆; evidence of involvement with Octave is more important.
    • If you never talked to us, we will likely reject your proposal, even it looks good 🚮
  2. 👩‍🔬 Get your hands dirty.
    • We are curious about your programming skills 🚀
    • Use Octave!
      • If you come across something that does not work the way you like ➡️ try to fix that 🔧
      • Or if you find a missing function ➡️ try to implement it.
  3. 📝💡 Tell us what you are going to do.
    • Do not write just to say what project you're interested in. Be specific about what you are going to do, include links 🔗, show us you know what you are talking about 💡, and ask many smart questions 🤓
    • Remember, we are volunteer developers and not your boss 🙂
  4. 📔 Prepare your proposal with us.
    • Try to show us as early as possible a draft of your proposal 📑
    • If we see your proposal for the first time after the application deadline, it might easily contain some paragraphs not fully clear to us. Ongoing interaction will give us more confidence that you are capable of working on your project 🙂👍
    • Then submit the proposal following the applicable rules, e.g. for GSoC. 📨

How do we judge your application?

Depending on the mentors and SoC program there are varieties, but typically the main factors considered would be:

  • You have demonstrated interest in Octave and an ability to make substantial modifications to Octave
    The most important thing is that you've contributed some interesting code samples to judge your skills. It's OK during the application period to ask for help on how to format these code samples, which normally are Mercurial patches.
  • You showed understanding of your topic
    Your proposal should make it clear that you're reasonably well versed in the subject area and won't need all summer just to read up on it.
  • Well thought out, adequately detailed, realistic project plan
    "I'm good at this, so trust me" isn't enough. In your proposal, you should describe which algorithms you'll use and how you'll integrate with existing Octave code. You should also prepare a project timeline and goals for the midterm and final evaluations.

What you should know about Octave

GNU Octave is mostly written in C++ and its own scripting language that is mostly compatible with Matlab. There are bits and pieces of Fortran, Perl, C, awk, and Unix shell scripts here and there. In addition to being familiar with C++ and Octave's scripting language, you as successful applicant will be familiar with or able to quickly learn about Octave's infrastructure. You can't spend the whole summer learning how to build Octave or prepare a changeset and still successfully complete your project 😇

You should know:

  1. How to build Octave from its source code using the GNU build system.
  2. How to submit patches (changesets).

Suggested projects

The following suggested projects are distilled from the Projects page for the benefit of potential SoC participants. You can also look at our completed past projects for more inspiration.

Info icon.svg
Do you use Octave at your working place or university? Do you have some numerical project in mind? You are always welcome to propose your own projects. If you are passionate about your project, it will be easy to find an Octave developer to mentor and guide you. Please note that for such a proposal to be successful it will almost certainly involve initiating pre-proposal discussion over at the Octave Discourse forum.

Adding regression GAM and kNN classification functionality in statistics package

Generalized Additive Models and k-Nearest Neighbor algorithms are two important tools in advanced statistics used for regression and classification problems, respectively. The statistics package, although heavily developed during the past year, still lacks any functionality regarding these two algorithms. The scope is to implement both the respective class def objects as well as the relevant functions in a MATLAB compatible way.

  • Project size [?] and Difficulty
~350 hours (medium)
  • Required skills
Octave, familiarity with statistical methods
  • Potential mentors
Andreas Bertsatos

Custom re-implementation of the texi2html (v.1.82) command line tool

Implement a custom perl script to relax the dependency of the pkg-octave-doc package on texi2html (v.1.82) command line tool, which is no longer maintained or further developed but also not readily available to all linux distributions. This will also help improve the speed of pkg-octave-doc processing large packages, which contain specific tags (such as @math) which are currently handled within Octave code.

  • Project size [?] and Difficulty
~350 hours (hard)
  • Required skills
Perl, Octave, Texinfo, HTML
  • Potential mentors
Andreas Bertsatos

A function search index website for all Octave Packages

Develop additional functionality for the pkg-octave-doc package than will search all pkg compatible packages listed in Octave Packages, enumerate the available functions from each package, and built a website with search capability that will list all functions’ names and their respective package(s). The function list should have links corresponding to their documentation or/and source code. This could be integrated in the current Octave Packages website and the implemented tool can be part of the current CI (used for testing a package before merging a new release) and automatically update the website with every package release. Alternatively, it can be a stand alone service which will monitor Octave Packages repository for any merged PR and update the function search index website accordingly.

  • Project size [?] and Difficulty
~350 hours (medium)
  • Required skills
Octave, Bootstap 5 framework
  • Potential mentors
Andreas Bertsatos





Project sizes

Since GSoC 2022 there exist two project sizes[1][2]:

  • ~175 hours (~12 weeks, Jun 13 - Sept 12)
  • ~350 hours (~22 weeks, Jun 13 - Nov 21)

Footnotes

See also