harlanhaskins: harlanhaskins: I’d say that, no, you wouldn’t need a compiler background to contribute to Swift. I didn’t have any compiler background before I started contributing — the important thing is that you’re willing to learn the concepts as you go. But don’t feel like you have to start contributing to swift, if you would prefer to read up on language theory first.

This. 100% this. I was in the exact same boat where I knew practically nothing about compilers in general. Even now, I still have a lot to learn, but at least it’s coming together little by little.

For me, when I was implementing my random functions in the stdlib, I caught an immediate interest to try and learn other parts of the project. Just being exposed to writing any code on the compiler, or rather any project in general, can capture the motivation needed to dive deeper into how it works and how you can contribute. Little by little, as I was writing new prs, whether they’re NFC, fixing a bug, or adding a new feature, I was getting familiar with the project and it’s vast API. Another huge reason why contributing to the compiler is a lot less intimidating is that the Swift team at Apple have some fantastic and super smart people. They are super helpful and will help give you guidance on a problem, or will suggest alternatives that maybe you hadn’t thought of yet. I would say that contributing to Swift is very unique because not only can you learn about compilers, the stdlib, or any relating project that affects Swift, but you also get very helpful advice and can learn a lot because of the engineers behind it as well.