Testimonial of Edgar Gonzalez

Profile picture of Edgar Gonzalez Edgar Gonzalez

My journey from a soldier to an F# OSS contributor

I was a soldier for 11 years as part of the Spanish special forces, but due to a life-changing accident, I decided it was a good moment in my life to switch careers. So I went back to school and studied for two years to become a Mobile developer using C#. During my first job as a developer, a co-worker introduced me to F# and I fell in love with it following my curiosity I started to learn more about it. I realize that I was not only a new language but a new way of thinking and a new way of programming. So I deiced that was time to find a job as an F# where I could use it in my daily work.

My first job as an F# developer

After a few months of searching, I found a job as an F# developer and I was so excited to start working with it. But I was also a little bit nervous because I was going to work with a language that I was still learning and I was afraid that I was not going to be able to do my job properly. But after the initial fear, I started to feel more confident and I started to contribute to the F# and Fabulous as we were using it in our project.

How did I get involved in the F# open source community?

During the learning process, I notice that there were some instances where the compiler was not giving me the best error messages and I was not able to understand what was going on. So I decided to open an issue which made me ask myself, how can I help to improve the compiler error messages? So I started to look for a way to contribute to the F# compiler and I found that there were issues labeled as good-first-issues or help-wanted and I decided to start with those issues. I was so happy to see that my contributions were being accepted and merged into the F# compiler. The more I contributed the more I wanted to look for more issues to solve. This leads me to be one of the top contributors to the F# compiler for F# 7. So I was able to go from zero to almost 40 contributions in no time.

What is the best thing about contributing to F#?

How you can make a difference and help F#?

Are you a programmer who is using F#? Have you ever thought about how you can make a difference and help others through your work? If so, I have some good news for you. You can make a difference and help others by contributing to the F# open source community.

If I can do it, so can you. You have the opportunity to make a real impact and help others. So, if you’re feeling stuck or unsure about your abilities, remember that anything is possible with hard work and dedication. With F#, you have the power to create meaningful change and help others in ways you might not even realize yet.

I can attest to the rewarding feeling of giving back to the language that has brought me so much joy as a programmer.

If you’re using F#, consider getting involved in the community and contributing to the language’s development or any open-source project. Not only will you be helping to improve the ecosystem, but you’ll also be connecting with like-minded individuals who share your passion for F# and programming. Together, we can continue to make F# an even more powerful and productive language for all who use it.

As an F# OSS contributor, I am always looking for ways to give back to the community that has supported me throughout my career.

Whether you’re a seasoned F# programmer or just starting, your feedback and contributions can make a difference. By sharing your ideas and suggestions, you can help shape the future of F# and make it an even more powerful and productive for everyone who uses it.

Additionally, if you’re interested in contributing to F# yourself, I would be happy to help guide you through the process. As an experienced contributor, I can provide advice and support on how to get started and how to make meaningful contributions to the ecosystem.

By working together as a community, we can achieve this goal and make F# an even better language for all of us.

That’s why I’m part of Amplifying F#. I want to help others get involved in the F# open source community and make a difference in the lives of others.