August 2018 Summaries

In the past two years, over 100 GitHub Campus Experts from 20 countries have enhanced technological learning environments by building tech communities, organizing inclusive conferences, and delivering impressive projects. Students aged 18 or older who use the Student Developer Pack are now invited to apply for the next cohort of Campus Experts, offering them opportunities to develop skills in public speaking, workshop design, and community management. Accepted applicants will receive training and mentorship from GitHub employees, access to exclusive events, and support in fostering developer communities at their institutions.

GitHub has launched Project Paper Cuts to address minor workflow issues reported by its diverse community, aiming to enhance the platform's usability and functionality through small but impactful improvements. By actively engaging with feedback from various channels, such as emails, support, social media, and user-created feature request repositories, the initiative focuses on quick fixes for common annoyances that might not be part of larger product initiatives. Inspired by contributions like the Refined GitHub browser extension, Project Paper Cuts has already implemented several enhancements, including improved diff content handling, streamlined repository access, and better pull request management, with the goal of fostering a more open and collaborative development environment. The project emphasizes rapid deployment of changes with minimal friction and maintains transparency through public changelog entries, reflecting GitHub's commitment to evolving its platform based on community insights and continuing to support developers in optimizing their workflows.

GitHub for Visual Studio 2.5.5 introduces support for checks and statuses in pull requests, enhancing the pull request workflow by providing crucial information needed for reviewing and merging. This new functionality allows each commit to display a status of pending, passing, or failing based on continuous integration builds or deployment services, with the status of the latest commit visible in the pull request list view. The detail view includes a section for "Checks," where users can expand to see individual checks and their statuses, and clicking on "Details" opens a URL with more information and logs. Users are encouraged to provide feedback, report bugs, and contribute to the extension, with opportunities to participate in usability studies by filling out a survey.

The EU's proposed copyright legislation, which has significant implications for software development, is approaching another critical vote in the EU Parliament. Key issues include Article 13's upload filters, which could make software less reliable and more expensive by potentially leading to censorship and privacy concerns, and Article 3's restrictive text and data mining exceptions, which could hinder AI and machine learning advancements within the EU. The proposal also introduces a new right for press publishers in Article 11, adding complexities for web software development. Although the European Parliament did not permanently reject the proposal, it opened negotiations to all MEPs, indicating the impact of public advocacy. The upcoming vote on September 12 will include amendments, and developers are encouraged to contact their MEPs to express concerns, especially during the Copyright Week of Action from September 4-11. Advocates for the software community are urged to oppose the upload filters and text and data mining restrictions, emphasizing their potential harm to the industry and the EU economy. This ongoing debate highlights the importance of engagement and advocacy in shaping legislative outcomes that support the software development ecosystem.

Merge conflicts are a common challenge when working with Git, occurring when changes in different branches overlap and require manual intervention to reconcile. Despite adhering to best practices such as regular communication and making incremental commits, conflicts can still arise during actions like pulling changes, creating pull requests, or pushing updates to a repository. Resolving these conflicts involves identifying and choosing between the conflicting changes, often marked by Git within the file, and committing the resolved version. In educational settings, deliberately introducing merge conflicts can be a valuable teaching tool, helping students become adept at handling them before encountering real-world scenarios. The process can be facilitated through discussions and collaborative problem-solving in pull requests, while also leveraging resources like talks and educational modules to improve students’ understanding and skills in managing conflicts.

Abhijeet Pratap Singh, a student at the Indian Institute of Information Technology in Tiruchirappalli, participated in the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) program with the Probot Team at GitHub, where he developed a Weekly Digest application. The project, which was accepted from his proposal, involved creating an app that curates and publishes a summary of weekly activities, such as issues and pull requests, in a GitHub repository. Guided by mentors Gregor Martynus and Wilhelm Klopp, Singh engaged in collaborative development practices and utilized GitHub's REST API for NodeJS to achieve a pre-release and alpha version of the app. Singh's experience strengthened his passion for open-source development and provided valuable insights into software project maintenance and teamwork within the Probot community.

July saw a range of exciting software releases across various domains, notably benefiting those learning to program. The release of raylib 2.0, a game development library, removes external dependencies and supports more platforms, enhancing its accessibility for new developers. Mu 1.0, an IDE designed for Python and embedded programming, received a user interface update and expanded language support, aiding beginners. ALE 2.0 improved the Asynchronous Lint Engine for Vim and NeoVim, while Pico 2.0 enhanced its content management system with YAML configuration and new features for theme developers. Helpy 2.0 introduced a new interface and GDPR compliance to its helpdesk application, and Reactotron 2.0 upgraded its React inspection app with support for multiple devices. Apollo 3.0 advanced its self-driving car platform with new safety features, aiming for level 4 autonomy, while Ora 3.0 updated its terminal spinner for Node.js. Lastly, Xenko 3.0 made its game engine free and open-source, offering advanced graphics capabilities for diverse game development.

This tutorial outlines a method to streamline the deployment process by creating a "ship it" button using an AWS IoT Dash button and integrating it with GitHub and AWS Lambda. It details the necessary prerequisites, including an AWS account, a GitHub account, Node.js, and a GitHub API access token. The guide explains how to use Node.js and the Octokit library to interact with the GitHub API for creating releases and deployments. It also covers setting up an AWS Lambda function to trigger these actions when the button is pressed. Additionally, the tutorial suggests integrating this setup into existing workflows to automate deployment processes, offering insights into further customization and the use of third-party tools like Probot for handling deployment events and statuses.

Protected branches are a feature designed to ensure proper code reviews, support continuous integration (CI) processes, and prevent unauthorized force pushes within a repository. A recent update allows repository owners or administrators to enforce these protected settings across multiple branches automatically. This update facilitates the customization of branch protections and enforces workflows that may include requiring multiple pull request reviews or specific status checks before merging a pull request. The new branch protection rules enhance existing functionalities by allowing a set of protections to be shared across branches with matching naming patterns, utilizing fnmatch syntax. This makes it easier to manage protections for branches with similar naming conventions, such as "releases/v?.?" or "[1-9]-[0-9]-stable", thereby streamlining the process of maintaining branch security and workflow integrity.

The GitHub Education Classroom Report, based on a survey of 8,000 students and teachers, reveals that using GitHub in educational settings significantly enhances learning outcomes compared to not using it. Students who utilized GitHub felt better prepared for future careers, gained familiarity with industry tools, and developed skills in collaboration and project management. They also reported a stronger sense of belonging both in school and within the developer community, benefiting more from teacher feedback received through GitHub. However, students expressed a need for additional support from teachers and peers while learning to use GitHub. The findings suggest that integrating GitHub into the curriculum could improve student engagement and success in computer science education, highlighting the importance of effective feedback and fostering a sense of belonging to enhance academic persistence and success.

Managing projects at the organization level has been streamlined with the ability to link relevant repositories to project boards, enhancing the search functionality by automatically scoping it to these repositories. This new feature allows users to specify which repositories are most pertinent to their project, thereby improving search speed and relevance. Users can link repositories when creating or managing an organization-owned project board, and up to five repositories can be added or modified to reference the work being done for the board. These linked repositories will appear on the project board list, providing a quick overview of where work is being conducted within the organization.

July's GitHub Changelog digest highlights various updates and new features, including enhancements to user interface elements and security measures. Notable updates include unselectable diff markers, responsive search pages, and the prevention of using compromised passwords. The release also introduced GitHub Desktop 1.3, public beta for user dashboards, and new webhook events for GitHub Apps using User-to-Server tokens. Additionally, security settings were updated, and there are new features such as a button to edit a repository's README from the repository root and a keyboard shortcut for commenting in pull request reviews. GitHub Enterprise received several updates, and there were releases for GitHub for Visual Studio and the GraphQL API preview for Checks. The digest also mentions the availability of security alerts in Python and project automation for review statuses, offering a comprehensive overview of the platform's enhancements for the month.

js13kGames is an annual month-long JavaScript coding competition initiated by @end3r in 2012, which invites developers of all skill levels to create games within a 13 kilobyte JavaScript limit, based on a theme revealed at the start of the contest. This year, the competition includes a WebXR category, encouraging participants to explore virtual reality experiences using A-Frame or Babylon.js, while adhering to the same file size constraint. Participants often utilize micro game engines like Kontra.js and minification tools such as Closure Compiler to overcome the challenge of the size limit. Image and audio optimization are crucial, with tools like Zpng and jsfxr aiding in reducing resource size. Developers can draw inspiration and techniques from past entries and retrospectives, which provide insights into maximizing productivity and creativity within the event’s constraints. The competition serves as an opportunity not only to hone JavaScript and game development skills but also to engage with a community of developers, with resources and updates shared through the js13kGames website and social media channels.

GitHub has expanded its collection of open-source social responsibility policies by adding four new ones, focusing on anti-bribery and event conduct. The Anti-Bribery Statement and Gifts and Entertainment Policy are designed to ensure compliance with laws such as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act, and include training for employees and requirements for channel partners and vendors. These policies emphasize GitHub's commitment to ethical conduct by detailing acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, and outlining consequences for violations. The Event Terms and Event Code of Conduct aim to foster a safe and inclusive environment at GitHub's annual Universe conference, setting expectations for respect and courtesy among participants and providing a harassment-free experience. These policies are open-sourced to assist other organizations in developing their own ethical guidelines and best practices. Abby Vollmer, GitHub's Director of Platform Policy and Counsel, is responsible for overseeing the creation and enforcement of these policies.

GitHub has released its GLB Director as an open-source Layer 4 load balancer, designed to handle large volumes of traffic by distributing a single IP address across multiple physical machines while minimizing connection disruption during server changes. The GLB Director operates as a front layer to services like haproxy and nginx, allowing them to scale without unique IPs for each machine. It utilizes Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing and a unique approach to load balancing that avoids duplicating state across director and proxy servers. By employing rendezvous hashing, the system consistently assigns primary and secondary servers for connections, allowing seamless server additions and removals. The load balancer also uses Generic UDP Encapsulation (GUE) for packet routing within data centers and DPDK for efficient packet processing, ensuring robust performance even during DDoS attacks. GitHub supports the system with health checks for server failover and released the technology as open source to encourage community collaboration and standardization.

The Craftwork event in New York City, taking place on August 14, 2018, is an interactive workshop designed for developers of all skill levels to learn how to enhance their workflows using the GitHub API by building GitHub Apps. Attendees will be guided by GitHub staff through the process of creating their first GitHub App, with tools like Probot and hosting options such as Glitch being introduced. The workshop fosters a collaborative and informal environment, offering participants the chance to work at their own pace with support from GitHub experts. Participants will leave with a functional GitHub App and the skills to continue developing productivity tools for their projects. The event will be held at 91 East 3rd Street, New York, with food and refreshments provided, and attendees are required to RSVP and have a GitHub account prior to attending.

GitHub's 2018 Universe conference, held on October 16-17 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, included efforts to enhance accessibility and inclusivity through its Community Partner and Individual Scholarship Programs, offering free admission tickets to promote diversity among attendees. The Individual Scholarship Program provided a limited number of free tickets, though recipients were responsible for their travel and lodging expenses. GitHub collaborated with local nonprofits and meetup groups to broaden diversity and aimed to create a welcoming environment with features such as inclusive meal options, gender-neutral bathrooms, a quiet room, a nursing room, closed captioning for all talks, and ADA-compliant venues. Additionally, facilities for service or therapy dogs were available, reflecting a comprehensive approach to inclusivity at the event.

Efforts to strengthen net neutrality protections have gained momentum in both India and the United States, albeit with differing levels of progress. India has implemented some of the world's most robust net neutrality rules, prohibiting discriminatory data practices by internet service providers, except in specific cases like emergency services. In the US, California's SB 822, which aims to establish strong net neutrality protections, faced challenges but is set to be reinstated with key components intact. Federally, Representative Mike Coffman's introduction of the 21st Century Internet Act and his support for the Congressional Review Act discharge petition marks a significant bipartisan effort to reverse the FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules. Developers play a crucial role in advocating for net neutrality, given its impact on innovation and market fairness. Comments from experts highlight the detrimental effects of the FCC's decision to repeal net neutrality and emphasize the need for policymakers to understand the technical and societal implications of internet regulations. Abby Vollmer, GitHub's Director of Platform Policy and Counsel, underscores the importance of continued advocacy for an open internet to foster innovation and opportunity.

Jay Taslim Dosunmu, a computer science student at Perimeter College, Georgia State University, developed the Athena Learning Platform to enhance online tutoring efficiency and accessibility. Originally an email system for tutoring sessions, Athena evolved into a comprehensive platform allowing students to request tutoring and provide feedback, connecting classroom learning, tutoring centers, and peer collaboration. Utilizing premium developer tools from the GitHub Student Developer Pack, Jay built Athena with features like SendGrid for emails, AWS S3 for storage, and Travis CI for continuous integration. The platform helps streamline tutor-student interactions and generates insightful reports, significantly reducing processing times. Athena's success led Jay to present it at conferences and secure internships at Stanley Black & Decker, SurveyMonkey, and Georgia Tech. His experience with the Student Developer Pack and industry-standard tools has prepared him for roles in analytics and software development, demonstrating the platform's impact on his academic and professional journey.