GSOC application level

Greetings, It seems that the Haskell community consistently participates in the Google Summer of Code project. I (and probably many others) am interested in taking part in one of such projects but I have a question in regards to the expertise. I know that this year's projects aren't up yet but by looking at the past results, the expertise required seems to vary pretty widely. Can someone that has been around for a bit longer comment on what level of experience with Haskell and underlying concepts is usually expected from candidates? Are applications discarded simply based on the applicant not having much previous experience in the target area? What is the level of the competition for places on the projects? It's not my first week of meddling with Haskell (and studying the ideas behind it) but I can't say that I would be able to confidently take on any project that might be put out. I do however realise that the project is open to students so I don't imagine the requirements specify something like couple of years with type theory research either. Any insight about the topic is appreciated. I'd much rather flip bits than do labour this summer and if it can be done using the language I'm interested in, even better! -- Mateusz K.

Hi Mateusz,
On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 4:58 PM, Mateusz Kowalczyk
Can someone that has been around for a bit longer comment on what level of experience with Haskell and underlying concepts is usually expected from candidates? Are applications discarded simply based on the applicant not having much previous experience in the target area? What is the level of the competition for places on the projects?
We don't have a fix bar for "things you need to known when you apply". Rather we try to guess whether the student can accomplish the project he/she is applying for, based on whatever evidence we have e.g. contribution to other projects, released libraries on Hackage, and other forms of community participation. Since we typically have more proposals than slots we will rank students both based on how impactful we think the project will be and how likely we think it is that the student will proceed. Both these qualities map onto a single number that we use to stack rank proposals.

"Mateusz Kowalczyk"
I know that this year's projects aren't up yet
Just to clarify, there isn't an official list of projects for you to choose from. The project that you purpose is entirely up to you. There is a list of recommendations at http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/summer-of-code/report/1 and another list of ideas at http://reddit.com/r/haskell_proposals -- but keep in mind that you ultimately make your own choice about what you propose, and it doesn't have to be selected from those lists. You can start writing your perusal today if you like. Having an unusually good idea is a great way to get selected even if you don't have an established body of work to point to. Just keep in mind that proposals are evaluated not just on the benefit if they are completed, but also on their likelihood of success... a good idea is both helpful and realistic. They are also evaluated on their benefit to the actual Haskell community... so of that's not something you have a good fell for, I'd suggest getting involved. Follow reddit.com/r/haskell, read this mailing list, read Haskell blogs from planet.haskell.org, and get familiar with what Haskellers are concerned about and interested in.
participants (3)
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Chris Smith
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Johan Tibell
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Mateusz Kowalczyk