Introduction to Open Source
Learn how to contribute to, create, and maintain open source projects!
Skill level
BeginnerTime to complete
Average based on combined completion rates — individual pacing in lessons, projects, and quizzes may vary<1 hourPrerequisites
None
About this course
Open source software enables anyone to contribute to projects, whether it’s code, documentation, or bug fixes. This course guides you through how open-source projects work, introduces you to GitHub, and shows you how to find and contribute to projects. You’ll learn about project documentation, licenses, and collaboration in a community-driven environment.
Skills you'll gain
Understand open-source project structure and documentation
Identify and contribute to meaningful issues in open source
Contribute through code, documentation, or bug reports
Syllabus
1 lesson • 4 quizzesCertificate of completion available with Plus or Pro
Earn a certificate of completion and showcase your accomplishment on your resume or LinkedIn.
Earn a certificate of completion
Show your network you've done the work by earning a certificate of completion for each course or path you finish.- Show proofReceive a certificate that demonstrates you've completed a course or path.
- Build a collectionThe more courses and paths you complete, the more certificates you collect.
- Share with your networkEasily add certificates of completion to your LinkedIn profile to share your accomplishments.
Introduction to Open Source course ratings and reviews
- 5 stars
- 4 stars
- 3 stars
- 2 stars
- 1 star
- The progress I have made since starting to use codecademy is immense! I can study for short periods or long periods at my own convenience - mostly late in the evenings.ChrisCodecademy Learner @ USA
- I felt like I learned months in a week. I love how Codecademy uses learning by practice and gives great challenges to help the learner to understand a new concept and subject.RodrigoCodecademy Learner @ UK
- Brilliant learning experience. Very interactive. Literally a game changer if you're learning on your own.John-AndrewCodecademy Learner @ USA
Our learners work at
What Is Open Source?
Think about the website you use the most often: Maybe it’s a social media site, a food delivery app, or a site you use for work. There are probably things you like about it. Maybe it’s nice to look at or really easy to use. But there are also probably some things that could be improved. Now, what if you could make those improvements yourself?
Unfortunately, this isn’t possible on most websites. The source code, or the code that was used to build the website, is very likely proprietary — meaning it was written by a certain company, and only the people who work for that company have permission to view and change it. But this isn’t always the case; that’s where open source comes in.
Join over 50 million learners and start Introduction to Open Source today!
Looking for something else?
Related resources
- Article
What is Open Source?
Learn about what open source is and why it's important! - Article
Why Open Source Your Project?
Learn about the benefits of making your project open source! - Article
Contributing to an Open Source Project on GitHub
Learn about the different ways you can contribute to an open source project!
Related courses and paths
- Free course
Learn GitHub: Best Practices
Learn how to maintain clean code, write better pull requests, and collaborate with the GitHub community.Beginner Friendly< 1 hour - Course
Learn Git & GitHub
Use our beginner friendly Git course to integrate Git and GitHub and manage versions of your projects using Git branches.With CertificateBeginner Friendly4 hours - Course
Introduction to Project Management
Get up to speed on project management for the business you are part of!With CertificateBeginner Friendly1 hour
Browse more topics
- Open source114,293 learners enrolled
- Computer science6,048,517 learners enrolled
- Developer tools294,777 learners enrolled
- Code foundations7,586,805 learners enrolled
- Web development5,083,061 learners enrolled
- Data science4,606,613 learners enrolled
- Python3,719,188 learners enrolled
- For business3,477,461 learners enrolled
- JavaScript2,917,821 learners enrolled
Unlock additional features with a paid plan
Practice Projects
Guided projects that help you solidify the skills and concepts you're learning.Assessments
Auto-graded quizzes and immediate feedback help you reinforce your skills as you learn.Certificate of Completion
Earn a document to prove you've completed a course or path that you can share with your network.