GSoC2009's formal starting date for accepted students to start coding their projects is 23rd May. But to be actually able to start *coding* on that date, it is essential to know the tools and environment that you are going to be using and working on. Also important is to get a clear idea of what actually you will be writing the code for, what features your coded project will have, and how you plan to go about implementing them, making sure that your mentor and mentor organization are also clear on your goals and motives. So that's why the period till 23rd of May is called "The Community Bonding Period".

I'll be working with Python Software Foundation (PSF) to improve and analyze the code coverage of Python3k. I've already checkedout a local copy of Py3k's svn repository to get to know its directory structure and how things are managed. I've been on Python-dev mailing list for a long time, but it is time to start paying more attention to the discussions carried out on it. Also subscribed to Python-3000 and Python-ideas mailing lists.

An important resource for all the students working with PSF this year is the Python Developers Guide. It links to many resources for starting developers and reference material for a quick look up if you are stuck somewhere.

Python3k test suite is located in the Lib/tests directory. You can run all of the tests by running the command "./python Lib/tests/regrtest.py". Interestingly, two tests failed for me, test_distutils and test_socket. Running in verbose mode with the -v argument showed that distutils test was having some permission problem with the directories it created on my machine's /var/tmp directory. Interestingly, if I run the test as a root user, there is no problem as root doesn't need any kind of permissions to access a specific directory. But I am not supposed to run the tests as a root user. I've reported the problem on the Bug Tracker and hopefully the problem will be solved. The socket test had a weirder problem and I haven't dug it up yet.

Two important tools for python code coverage are figleaf and coverge.py. I'll be giving both the tools a detailed look because my summer project also involves comping up with a way for better report generation for Python code coverage.

Thanks to the folks on #python-dev on irc.freenode.net for listening to my questions regarding the source tree with patience. I hope to bug you guys even more, but only when it is necessary. ;)