Open source comes with the advantages of allowing the users to freely modify and integrate the work into their projects. It gives a way to freely exchange ideas with a like-minded community and contribute to the scientific and technological environment.

According to the 2018 Open Source Program Management Survey, more than half of the companies surveyed, around 53 per cent said that their organisation has an open source software program or has plans to establish one within a year. Contributing to open source gives developers plenty of advantages, benefitting their own development.

Here are 6 ways in which developers are benefitted by contributing to open source:

1.Helps in writing cleaner code:

First up, there are a lot of enthusiasts who simply believe that code should be open. They’re idealists who want to make the world a better place, and it drives them to contribute code. The desire to share can be a powerful motivator.

Even by fixing minor things like a bug in a library or writing a piece of documentation can also help the developers to write readable or maintainable code. They can independently suggest to the community and generally tend to stick by the rules of writing a code that is easy to understand. The fact that the code will be exposed to everyone naturally makes them write focus on making it readable. 

2.Gain recognition:

Some people just like the idea of the code being open to call and want to sincerely make the community better by contributing to it. It also gives these coders a recognition among the community, and they also have personal development in terms of sharpening their programming skills. Getting recognition is also a reason to contribute to open source. Recognition can also end up with a lot of opportunities by potential employers.

3.A better understanding of technology:

Companies and individuals who contribute to an open source project get to know the technology at a much deeper level. It helps in strengthening the understanding of the project. It helps in developing the internal use of tech in the team or organisation.

4.Helps in being prepared for the project:

Contributing to open source projects that are related to the company’s domain will help the company understand its customers better. It helps them understand what their customers expect and what can be done to achieve that. This can be worked out by being a part of the open source community and contributing to the code. It will help the company have a clear view of the projected future and work accordingly.

5.Reduces development costs:

Open source contribution is a huge help to reduce development costs in organisations. Open source contributors give the organisation to take ideas, suggestions and help from experts outside of their own team, thereby reducing development costs because then they have access to the work done by other developers that could be better than the ones in the organisation.

6.Builds the organisation’s reputation:

Such contribution helps in keeping the developers challenged and active participation from the employees will help in building the organisation reputation. Active participation in stimulating open source communities helps in the long run to achieve this. Edgar Magana, a Senior Principal Engineer for Cloud Operations at Workday, who is also a hiring manager, had written in his blog stating: “As a hiring manager, a job candidate who has a real understanding of open source and demonstrates active and positive participation in open source projects is worth far more than a candidate who has the right certifications and credentials but no open source experience.”