Become a Python Core Developer in 3 Easy Steps

Step 1: Fix a bug Step 2: ??? Step 3: Core developer

Ok, it's not that simple but it's also not as mysterious as it might seem!

About three years ago I fixed an obscure bug in the unittest module. Today, I'm a core developer. This talk is about what happened in between, and how you can start contributing too!

Over the years, I got to work on many different areas of Python. I've fixed bugs in the parser, added import autocomplete to the REPL, worked on gettext tooling, and eventually found my way to the JIT compiler, all things I knew little about before diving in.

Getting started contributing to Python can be intimidating, so I'll share some practical things I learned along the way such as:

• How is the CPython project organized?
• How do you find something to work on? (and why it doesn't have to be code!)
• What happens after you submit a PR?
• How do you navigate a 30 year old codebase without getting lost?

If you've ever wanted to contribute to Python but weren't sure where to start, this talk is for you.