Google's Code-in Contest Is Ideal for Teens Interested In Open Source

Google has announced its third annual Code-in contest for high school students, an international contest introducing 13-17 year old pre-university students to the world of open source software development. According to the announcement: "The goal of the contest is to give students the opportunity to explore the many types of projects and tasks involved in open source software development. Globally, open source software development is becoming a major factor in all industries from governments, healthcare, and relief efforts to gaming and large tech companies." This looks like one of the better opportunities for young people picking up technical skills to differentiate themselves from the pack.

The Code-in contest starts November 26, 2012. From late November to mid January, students will be able to work with 10 open source projects on a variety of tasks. The tasks may range from actual coding to production of documentation for open source projects.

According to Google:

"Over the last two years we have had 904 students compete in the contest from 65 countries. This past January we announced the 10 Grand Prize Winners for the 2011 Google Code-in. In June, we flew the winners and a parent/legal guardian to Google’s Mountain View, California headquarters for a 5 day/4 night trip complete with an awards ceremony, talks with Google engineers, Google campus tour, and a full day of fun in San Francisco."

That sounds like an excellent opportunity for kids interested in technology. The Google Code-in team has posted a complete FAQ about the contest, If you are a teacher who would like to encourage students to participate, you can send an email to ospoteam@gmail.com.