Glossary of terms

The programme

• Google Summer of Code (GSoC): a programme run by Google in which contributors new to open source work on an open-source project for several months, with mentors. See the official site.
• Open source: software whose code is public, so anyone can read, use and improve it.
• Mentoring organisation: a group, like Elixpo, that offers project ideas and mentors. Google chooses which organisations take part each year.
• Contributor: the person who works on a project during the programme.
• Mentor: an experienced person who guides the contributor, answers questions and reviews their work.
• Primary mentor: the contributor's main contact for an idea.
• Backup mentor: a second mentor who knows the project and can step in if the primary mentor is away.
• Organisation administrator: a person who manages the organisation's application and its communication with Google. Elixpo has two: Ayushman Bhattacharya (lead) and Vivek Yadav.
• Community bonding: the period after contributors are selected and before coding starts, used to get to know the mentors and plan the work.
• Midterm: the middle of the programme, when progress is checked.

Ideas and proposals

• Project idea: a description of a problem we would like solved. Our ideas are on the ideas page.
• Participating project: an Elixpo codebase that one or more ideas belong to. See the projects page.
• Size (90 or 175 hours): how much work an idea is expected to take in total. 90 hours is a small project; 175 hours is a medium one.
• Difficulty: how hard an idea is: Easy, Intermediate or Hard.
• Proposal: your written plan for the idea you want to work on. See the proposal template.
• Expected outcomes: what should exist at the end of the project.
• Stretch goal: additional work attempted only if the main goals are complete. Stretch goals are optional.
• Out of scope: work that is not part of the project, even if it appears related.
• Success measures: the checks that show the work is complete, such as tests anyone can run.
• Warm-up task: a small task, listed on each idea page, that you complete before applying to learn the codebase and show your approach.
• Milestone: a checkpoint, a piece of work you will have finished by a certain point.

Working with code

• Repository (repo): the place on GitHub where a project's code and its history are stored.
• README: the first document in a repository. It usually explains how to set up the project.
• Issue: a public note in a repository about a bug, a question or a planned change.
• Pull request (PR): a request, on GitHub, for a project to accept your change.
• Review: when a mentor or maintainer reads your pull request and comments on it before it is accepted.
• Merge: when your change is accepted into the project.
• Test: a small program that checks that the code does what it should.
• CI (continuous integration): a service that runs a project's tests automatically every time someone proposes a change.
• GitHub Discussions: Elixpo's public forum on GitHub. Discussions for GSoC 2027 will open once Google announces the programme dates; until then, questions go to gsoc@elixpo.com.
• Code of Conduct: the rules everyone follows for treating each other with respect.