I had the wonderful opportunity of interacting with and interviewing a Google Summer of Code [https://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2014] student alumni. I interviewed Mr. Andrei Dincu about his project and his experience. Mr. Dincu’s Google Summer of Code project was about developing a Drupal 8 module for the popular XML Sitemap module. This module was being created with the intention to increase the performance of their websites. For more information about Mr. Dincu’s project please visit: http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/project/details/google/gsoc2014/andre...
The Interview with Mr. Andrei Dincu.
Q: What was your project?
A: My project was about porting the XML Sitemap module to Drupal 8.
Q: Did you have prior experience with open source software?
A: Yes, I did. I contributed to a small open source in C++. The name of the project was WHC-IDE. Here is the link for WHC-IDE: https://github.com/veaceslav/WHC-IDE
Q: Prior to doing Google Summer of Code, how much experience did you have with coding/programming?
A: I had 5 years of programming experience.
Q: What made you choose Drupal?
A: I had worked with Drupal in my previous job but I wasn’t a Drupal contributor at the time. The reason I chose Drupal was because I liked the architecture and the community.
Q: How early did you start preparing for Summer of Code?
A: The Google Summer of Code coding period starts in May but I began making patches in January.
Q: What was your motivation behind doing this project?
A: I wanted to learn more about Drupal and Search Engine Optimization. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization]
Q: What was your biggest challenge?
A: My biggest challenge was understanding the architecture of Drupal 8.
Q: How much help did you receive/how involved was your mentor in your project?
A: I had 2 mentors and they were both involved in the project and helped me a lot.
Q: How many hours a week did you work on your project?
A: About 40 hours.
Q: What is the biggest or most important lesson you will take away from doing Google Summer of Code?
A: To interact with the community as much as possible because it helps you a lot.
Q: How do you think your project helps Drupal?
A: My project helps Drupal because my project has created a D8 version for the one of the most used modules.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to participate in Google Summer of Code?
A: To interact with the Drupal community as much as possible and start patching as soon as possible.
Q: Would you be open to participating/mentoring in the coming years of Summer of Code?
A: Yes.