* The cover image is originally by Free-Photos and edited with great appreciation.

Intro

This post shows how I submitted a pull request in Github to an open source project such as, for example, Deno project [denoland/deno] in order to contribute to it.

Well, Deno is a "secure runtime for JavaScript and TypeScript" whose core developer is Ryan Dahl, the original developer of the Node.js. In more detail, Deno "uses V8 and is built in Rust." (Yes, it is written in Rust lang.)

My modification this time had nothing to do with actual code of programming languages such as Rust, JavaScript and TypeScript or some shell scripts. It was on README.md, a basic markdown file, and just about English expression. We can get involved in contribution via even something like this.

Tutorial

To begin with

read contribution guide

Projects usually have the official contribution guides. Read them to follow their rules. Here is Deno's.

optionally, accept the requirements if necessary

Contributors are sometimes required to accept something. Deno requires "Contributor License Agreement" via CLA assistant.

Steps

1. fork

Fork a copy of the repository in a web browser. Just click "Fork".

2. git clone

Now you have a copy of the repo as yours.

Get it.

$ git clone <your/repository>

3. create a branch to edit

Create a branch which contains only your changes and is bound to a pull request later.
The branch name should be unique and easy to understand what it is for. If there is an open issue related, the branch name may include its ID.

$ git checkout -b <branch-name>

4. modify and test

Edit files as needed with editors or IDEs.

Run tests.

5. check diff

Confirm there are only changes which you are intended to make.

6. commit

Commit the changesets.

$ git add .
$ git commit -m "<comments should be short and describe summary>"

7. push to own repository

$ git push origin <branch-name>

8. open a pull request and submit it

Open the own repository in a web browser and choose the pushed branch. You will see the green button "Open pull request". Click it.

Here is the final stage to submit the pull request to the original project. Read the comments, which are provided by the project, carefully, write your description and review the validity by yourself. Check "Files changed" again. Then publish it.

9. wait to be reviewed

Done. It will be reviewed by the project. Wait with patience.

Outro

After the submission above, my reviewer replied to me and I followed his advice. I did git commit and git push origin <branch-name> again. Then I opened my Github repo page in a web browser and clicked "Fetch upstrean" -> "Fetch merge" to reflect the new commit in the pull request. It was accepted by the reviewer.
After all, my pull request passed all the checks and has been "merged" to the "main" branch in the project 🙂