GSOC: Application

Organization Name:
Node.js Community

Description:
Node.js is a server side JavaScript runtime built on top of the V8 JavaScript engine. The project aims to simplify the writing of scalable networks programs by using evented I/O rather than threads as an abstraction for concurrent operations.

Since the initial release (Feb 16th 2009), the project has:

• Attracted a community of ~1000 users on the mailing list
• Seen code contributions from over 50 individuals
• Embraced open standards like the CommonJS specification and JSGI, and worked with these communities to improve the overall
  server-side javascript scenario.
• Received standing ovations at the JSConf.eu conference (2009)
• Been deployed for comet applications used by millions of users (Plurk)
• Favorably competed in benchmarks with similar technologies (EventMachine, Twisted, Tornado)
• Ported V8 to the Solaris plattform and contributed the work back to Google

Home page:
http://nodejs.org/

Main Organization License:
MIT License

Why is your organization applying to participate in GSoC 2010? What do you hope to gain by participating? (needs long answer)
Node.js is at the cutting edge of the newer evented I/O systems. It takes a radical approach of bringing JavaScript to the server-side.
By participating in GSoC we hope to attract more developers to this platform and improve the performance and stability of Node.js.
By participating we hope to gain certain add on modules which will allow quicker development using the Node.js platform and get certain
improvements into the node.js core, such as better DNS support.
In addition we hope that this will raise the project’s standing and make more people embrace it, rather than just the early-adopters.

Did your organization participate in past GSoCs? If so, please summarize your involvement and the successes and challenges of your participation.
(No previous participation)

If your organization participated in past GSoCs, please let us know the ratio of students passing to students allocated, e.g. 2006: 3/6 for 3 out of 6 students passed in 2006.
(No previous participation)

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(No Comment)

If your organization has not previously participated in GSoC, have you applied in the past? If so, for what year(s)?
(No previous application)

What is the URL for your ideas page?
http://wiki.github.com/ry/node/google-summer-of-code-2010-ideas

What is the main development mailing list for your organization? This question will be shown to students who would like to get more information about applying to your organization for GSoC 2010. If your organization uses more than one list, please make sure to include a description of the list so students know which to use.
http://groups.google.com/group/nodejs

What is the main IRC channel for your organization?
#Node.js on irc.freenode.net

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(No Comment)

Does your organization have an application template you would like to see students use? If so, please provide it now. Please note that it is a very good idea to ask students to provide you with their contact information as part of your template. Their contact details will not be shared with you automatically via the GSoC 2010 site.

• First Name
• Last Name
• Email
• Location
• Phone
• IRC nick
• Short description of the project idea the student will work on.
• Motivation for working on this idea
• Implementation details – Description of how the student will attempt to implement the idea, and a rough timeline of the stages.
• Language Skills (digital and human)
• GitHub profile / Previous open source involvement

What criteria did you use to select the individuals who will act as mentors for your organization? Please be as specific as possible:

• Reliability: People who have shown their commitment to the project and who can realistically allocate the time necessary.
• Core members: They are likely to want new features in the code, but may not have the time to implement it themselves. They would
  be willing to mentor students.
• C/C++ skills: Most tasks require good knowledge of those languages

What is your plan for dealing with disappearing students?

• Selecting students unlikely to disappear – based on their past open source work and their participation in the Node.js community leading upto GSoC
• Regular follow ups between students and mentors
• Required progress updates to the community by the students (eyes watching = motivation)
• Connecting with students via phone

What is your plan for dealing with disappearing mentors?

• Selecting reliable mentors
• Required progress updates to the community by the mentors
• Having more mentors lined up than required for eventual replacements

What steps will you take to encourage students to interact with your project’s community before, during and after the program?

• Node is a technology to be very excited about. We will try to hard to select students who share this excitement from the beginning.
• Giving the students public credit on the mailing list, conferences, user group meetings, etc. for their work
• Forming personal relationships with the students that provide close ties back to the project

What will you do to ensure that your accepted students stick with the project after GSoC concludes?

• Getting their contributions deployed in applications used by millions of people
• Following up with them via email / phone
• Providing continued mentoring after the program ends

Is there anything else you would like to tell the Google Summer of Code program administration team? :
We think JavaScript is going to be the next big language. If we are not selected, we hope other JavaScript related projects will!

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