User:Abdallah Elshamy

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A: An introduction

  • My name is Abdallah Khaled Elshamy, a student from Egypt. I am a hard-working person who is passionate about his work. I am a third year undergraduate student studying computer and systems engineering at faculty of engineering - Ain Shams University.
    • Languages I speak: Arabic (native) and English (upper-intermediate).
    • I have a good background in mathematics (ODEs, linear algebra, numerical analysis and calculus), electronic and electric circuits and computer science.
  • Google summer of code is an excellent opportunity for a student like me to work with other developers on a sophisticated software that has a lot of users. I hope to become a better and more experienced developer and to hone my soft skills by collaborating with the developers/maintainers of Octave.
    • I don't have any previous experience with the GSoC.
  • I used octave a lot as an open-source alternative to Matlab. It was extremely helpful for me as a student.Thus, I want to help in enhancing and adding to this important project.

C: Contact

  • User name on Savannah and Nick name on IRC: Abdallah_Elshamy
  • I live in cairo (UTC+2). my location won't change over GSoC duration.
  • I usually split my working hours to regain my focus so I code from 06.00 to 10.00 and from 12.00 to 17.00

E: Coding experience

  • I have a good knowledge of C++ and used it in many projects.
  • I have been using octave/MATLAB for about two years. I am familiar with some packages like: Control and Signals. I wrote many m-scripts and used Simulink.
  • I have a good knowledge of Qt and made two University projects using it.
  • I have a good knowledge of Python and a fair knowledge of Java.
  • I am comfortable with working with team and worked with many teams in university projects.
  • I Worked with a team to make a Verilog model for MIPS processor, an assembler for MIPS, a GUI where user can write assembly code and run it and an automated test for the Verilog model. my role over time was
    • Implementing the GUI using Qt.
    • Helping in implementing the assembler
    • integrating the system.
  • I have submitted a patch to add the new functions "startsWith" and "endsWith" to octave[1].

F: Feeling fine

  • I am familiar with IRC and used it to get advice.
  • I am familiar with mailing list and subscribed to it.
  • I used Mercurial to submit a patch and have a good experience with other version control systems like git.
  • I built octave using make tool and was able (with the help of the maintainers) to add functions to the build system.
  • What will make me actively stay in the community that I want to help in developing octave as it helped me in my study. besides, I believe that I will learn a lot from this.

O: Only out of interest

  • I heard about octave approximately two years ago in my college as an open source alternative for MATLAB since we have projects that used MATLAB and we needed a software with similar capabilities.
  • The first question concerning Octave I could not find an answer to rather quickly was how to add to the build system. With some searching and help from IRC channel and maintainers I was able to solve it.

P: Prerequisites

  • I use Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS.
  • I own this machine and have full (sudo) access to it. I can install any new software on it.
  • I will be able to access internet connection, a computer with my progressing work on any time on the day.

S: Self-assessment

  • Criticism is greatly important and highly appreciated by me as it allows me to learn from other's experiences. To make the best of it I prefer it to:
    • Be as specific as possible.
    • Be supported with examples.
    • Use clear language and avoid ambiguity.
    • Be given in points so I can track my improvement in a better way.
  • I prefer to discuss changes and to have a good vision about them before starting to code. Surely, all the details may not be clear and need further search but having a good general view about the system helps a lot and directs your search and your efforts to fruitful paths.
  • Prototypes definitely helps you understand what you are trying to do so coding and modifying them (with the risk to throw them away) may be useful to have a better understanding and a better implementation of the requirements.