Have you been looking for ways to get involved and actively contribute to Apache Software Foundation’s newest top-level project(Apache APISIX)? Then, this article is for you.
Several articles and videos already exist that explain the open-source tool Apache APISIX and what its all about. This article gives you a walkthrough on contributing and collaborating in the APISIX community.
Meet with the community
There are several ways you can get in touch with the Apache APISIX community. To kickstart your contribution journey, jump into our community by:
- Subscribe to mailing
The mailing list is a great place to start, as most of the discussions regarding the project are deliberated via the mailing list. Subscribing to this mailing is easy as pie. Follow the steps here.
- Joining the slack
The slack channel is another way to meet and collaborate with the APISIX community. Our slack community is a safe place to learn, educate and engage with the community. You can ask questions here, as the community managers and maintainers are always on standby. Follow this link to join the slack.
- Attending weekly meetings
We also have a weekly call that goes on every Wednesday. Our community weekly focuses on improving the engagement and collaboration among community members. You will receive an invite to this meeting upon subscribing to the mailing list.
How can you get involved?
You can identify with the Apache APISIX project and community in the following ways.
- Through Internship programs
APISIX has been actively participating in some internship programs since 2019, like Outreachy, GSOD and APISIX Summer of Programing. These programs serve as a medium to welcome more open-source enthusiasts into the community and projects as mentees. At the end of each internship period, mentees are fully equipped with the knowledge of Apache APISIX and how to contribute.
- As a contributor
For most open source enthusiasts, you can join the Apache APISX community as a first-time contributor. There are different ways you can make valuable contributions. We will look at other ways you can contribute to the project and community shortly.
- As a user
As a project owner, you can also get involved in our community by testing and integrating our project. APISIX serves as an excellent API gateway, delivering dynamic, real-time, high-performance & traffic management features. Apache APISIX consists of a data plane to dynamically control request traffic, a control plane to store and synchronise gateway data configuration, an AI plane to orchestrate plugins and real-time analysis and processing of request traffic.
- As an evangelist
Apache APISIX, although a top-level project, is still in its early stages. You can get involved in our community by spreading the word about this cloud-native gateway project; through articles, videos, and conferences.
How to start your contributions
Some open-source enthusiasts are interested in contributing to the Apache APISIX project but are unsure where to start. These are the different ways you can become an active contributor to the cloud-native project.
- Help with translations
In the hope of an inclusive project, the APISIX developers are working on translating the code and documents to a universal language. If this is an area you find interesting, get started by picking up an issue regards translating parts of the codebase to English. If you come across our documentation and code that requires translation, feel free to create an issue accordingly or discuss it on the mailing list.
- Help with documentation
Our team of technical writers are currently restructuring the Apache APISIX documentation. That is to say, there are several ways you can put your writing skills to good use in APISIX. While reading through our documentation, if you encounter any issues that need to be addressed, you can create an issue accordingly or discuss it on the mailing list. You can also contribute by creating written articles that promote APISIX. They will be featured on the APISIX blog.
- Help with outreach and engagement.
While technical skills are most welcome, the Apache APISIX community also support contributors with soft skills. This includes advocacy, marketing, and moderating our community channels. An excellent place to start is to familiarise yourself with our community, where you can ask questions and provide answers for others. You can also promote the Apache APISIX community, projects and content on your media platform.
- Help report or fix a bug.
Apache APISIX projects are built on Lua, Go, and JavaScript as the core language. Creating issues based on bugs you noticed within our code base is an excellent way to contribute to the APISIX project. Several issues are yet to be assigned within the Apache APISIX repository. You can also check out the other repositories under Apache APISIX. Remember to carefully read through the contributing guide to contribute to the code base successfully.
- Help out with the design.
Contributors with design insight(UI/UX), your skills are welcomed too. APISIX has a dashboard designed to make it easy for users to operate Apache APISIX through a frontend interface. You can flex your design skills by improving on the existing designs. Designs contributions are discussed among community members via mailing list before implementation.
- Help test and assure quality.
As a developer, you can check the Apache APISIX project for bugs and makes lists of defects for our engineers to attend to. Your reviews will help us ensure quality throughout the delivery cycle of Apache APISIX.
- Star Apache APISIX repositories
Last but not least, remember to show appreciation to our developers and contributors by staring our project.
Conclusion
As a first time contributor, breaking into the community might be overwhelming at first, so feel free to ask questions as much as you have. If you have any concerns that require immediate attention, use the mailing list to communicate with the team. Always adhere to our code of conduct. Then, remember to tag a friend along.
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