It all started a year ago in an internship program in Bangalore. The program intended to introduce us to open source tools and later to make some contribution to the open source world.

Initially i prepared myself with basic web application tools like tomcat server and mysql. Also i got more familiar with Linux operating system which supports the major chunk of open source software's. Mifos was the first open source application i worked on.





My experience with Mifos..

Mifos was a micro finance software. Its a tool to manage all the accounting information for micro finances. Ok  want to know more on micro finances? then Check this wiki link..

• We decided to choose this tool for our internship because this tool works for a cause of helping poor people. So working on this project always felt nice.
  
• mifos.org is their official site and has very helpful content for a developers. It really helped me to kick start my understanding regarding some software concepts. The support section provides complete information on install and deployment of a war file. ( Open source software's are usually bundled into war files which makes them easier to transfer )
• Also i was able to connect to some of the experienced developers all over the world. It was possible either through IRC chat services or by mailing.
• Check out this Wiki page for more information in IRC. I think IRC is the best thing that has happened for an open source developer. You can communicate with the required person directly for free! Ya, but first you need to find appropriate channels for that.
• Mifos has a mailing service where you can communicate with the developer. But the reply might not be guaranteed ;)

All in all it was an ultimate learning experience. The codes were of course complex but i had tried my best going through a few 100 files :P.

My experience with Zoran..

Zoran is a web application which simulates some of management strategies. You wont find this tool on the net cause it is still not launched as of now. But i was one of the privileged to work on this project. 

      I was given a war file and the source code. Going to the implementation of this application, it uses Struts framework and Hibernate technology for Database connectivity. I would have a separate post explaining some of the things i have learned with Struts and hibernate.

So for all those who want to learn, understand software development before you actually work in a company, there are loads of open source software's which can help you. Download the source code and get started! :) sourceforge.net is the best place to start! Provides various categories of software's to work on..