Introduction

Microsoft is on a mission to empower everyone on the planet Earth to achieve more and has been persistent in making this happen for the past 50 years—a mission I benefitted from an early age.

As an 8-year-old, Microsoft Excel enabled me to transform my makeshift bank, called SINLE at the time, maintained in my old notebooks to an electronically managed bank using Microsoft Excel, which happened to be the first application I ever used.

My Journey with Microsoft Technologies

For the past two years, I've been privileged to work on the same technologies that helped me transform my childhood idea—Microsoft ModernWork technologies. Leveraging modern work technologies, including Microsoft Copilot, I have empowered African enterprises and ecosystems with digital and AI transformation skills.

The Global AI Tour in Nigeria

Microsoft has been on a global AI tour since 2024, visiting different countries and continents. On February 19, 2025, the tour came to Nigeria.

The General Manager, Microsoft Nigeria & Ghana, Ola Williams kicked off the event with a refreshing keynote emphasizing Microsoft’s commitments, the outcomes of Microsoft's investments and her AI commitments

Next was a presentation from the President - Microsoft Africa, Lillian Barnard. Afterwards, we had the announcement of Microsoft investment to train 1million Nigerians in developing AI skills.

Following this was a Fireside chat with Ravi Bhat which preceeded the Copilot for Execitives demo — my session.

Then there was me!!!

At the just-concluded AI tour, which was hosted at Eko Hotels and had over 250 attendees, I had the honor of leading the Copilot for Executives demo alongside Dr. Nnanna, an esteemed senior colleague and friend.

During this demo, I showcased to the audience the transformational power of Microsoft Copilot and how it unlocks the richness of data in the very apps they work with through natural language, enabling them to unleash their creativity, optimize business processes, and supercharge their productivity.

The Copilot Executive Demo

Using the story of my childhood bank, SINLE, I showed the audience how SINLE leveraged Copilot to explore investment opportunities for the festive period in Nigeria, which we call "Detty December."

In this demonstration, I showcased how the team leveraged Copilot across the Microsoft 365 cloud applications. This enabled them to manage their entire business process flow. Infused with the transformative power of Copilot, the SINLE team optimized their processes from ideation, planning, execution, and expansion to integration with other businesses. I demonstrated how the team leveraged agents like the SharePoint agent, Copilot for Sales, the Microsoft 365 Copilot agent, and a Microsoft Dynamics reconciliation agent to speed up business processes, allowing them to consolidate data from multiple sources, including CRMs and their already existing Microsoft 365 data.

Preparation and Inspiration

To execute this demo, I drew inspiration from Satya and CVP Sumit’s demonstration style in their Microsoft events, which I consistently watch. This helped me to deliver a seamless demonstration showcasing innovative Microsoft technologies. Their presentation style inspired me to craft my demo in a way that communicated the value of Copilot, resonated with the audience, and made the complex capability of Copilot accessible and intuitive.

After my presentation, the audience erupted in a round of applause. Overall, the audience was lit up with the demo, and after my session, I received lots of questions and accolades, especially around the agents, specifically the SharePoint agent.

The SharePoint Agent

For the SharePoint agent, which garnered a lot of interest and attention during the presentation, the idea came from my childhood experience running a makeshift bank at home. As a child, when my parents wanted to withdraw funds from my bank, they usually left little notes for me, which I used to process their transactions. I remembered how my transition to Excel improved the process of reviewing all their notes to identify gaps and help speed up the transactions. I thought to myself, "What if we have an agent that can help the SINLE team review proposals?" This was the foundation for creating the SharePoint agent I used for this demo.

I designed an agent that helped the SINLE team quickly review proposals and contract agreements from vendors and partners. This allowed them to swiftly review and validate proposals, streamlining the RFP process and saving the team time to focus on what matters most.

Audience Engagement

Many attendees have requested access to my presentation slides. I understand the importance of staying current with recent Microsoft technologies, and I appreciate your commitment to enhancing your knowledge.

Microsoft Copilot is a continuously evolving application. To ensure you receive real-time updates on Microsoft's AI solutions, including Copilot and Copilot agents, please refer to this file.

Furthermore, for access to the specific videos on agents that I have created, please find all my videos via this link. You can view photos of the day here.

Event Highlights

Beyond my demonstration, I enjoyed other aspects of the events, including the panel session with Ravi and the fireside chat that followed immediately after my session.

Additionally, I attended Dr. Nnanna’s two breakout sessions where he went in-depth into Microsoft's data and AI solutions, the need for responsible AI design, as well as data security guidelines.

Reflection and Gratitude

As I reflect on my experience, I am grateful for the insights gained, knowledge shared, and the opportunity to lead the demonstration of Copilot to the audience, empowering attendees with AI skills at the Microsoft AI tour in Lagos. This event has not only deepened my understanding of Microsoft Copilot, it has also provided me with a unique perspective on the potential of AI to transform lives and industries.

I must highlight my exceptional collaborative experience with Dr. Nnanna. Working closely with him, sharing ideas, and reviewing our thoughts provided clear guidance as we sought feedback from each other. His dedication to excellence was inspiring, and his openness to constructive criticism created a safe and inclusive environment for both of us. I was impressed by the time we invested in preparing for events—the weekend preparations, night rehearsals, and his reception of my ideas were invaluable. This collaboration was one experience I will reflect on as I continue my journey.

I would like to extend my gratitude to Microsoft for investing in the Nigerian ecosystem. I thank Lillian, the President of Microsoft Africa, Ola, the GM for Microsoft Nigeria, my colleagues, the African leadership team who were present at the Microsoft AI tour, and every member of the Microsoft Nigerian team who contributed to making this event a success.

I also want to appreciate the support of my friends and colleagues throughout this journey. My biggest cheerleaders—Frances, Winner, Mercy MJ, Edi, Nofisat, Siviwe, Austin, Dayoumi, Erene, Abiodun, Tunmike, Isaac, Aunty Toyin, Aunty Remi, and Dr. Nnanna—your support and trust in me have been invaluable.

Conclusion

The Microsoft AI tour is an experience I will always remember, and I am grateful for the opportunity to showcase Copilot to the audience, demonstrating how they can leverage Copilot in transforming their employee experience and business processes. I look forward to all the amazing things that come out of this session and the journey ahead for me. Thank you for taking the time to read about my experience.

See you in my next blog post.

The previous article, "What is Data - like I am five" explained data and emphasized that data is everywhere. This means everybody uses data in their daily activities. However, there are people/roles that deal with collecting, processing, analyzing and the visualization of data.

In this article, we will explore some of these roles in data and their responsibilities.

You will encounter the word "database" in this article. Therefore, before we get into the roles, it is important to understand what a database is.

Database

According to GeeksforGeeks, A database is an organized collection of data stored in a computer system and usually controlled by a database management system (DBMS)

A database is a data store where data is collected and stored for further use. For example, think of a database like your daily journal where you take note of all your daily activities, plans and things (data) you may use in the future. In the IT world, your daily journal is called a database. Database systems are computers that are used to electronically store collections of related data and organize these data, such that it is easily accessed, managed, and updated.

Database Administrator

According to Pluralsight, The database administrator (DBA) is the person who manages, backs up and ensures the availability of the data produced and consumed by today’s organizations via their IT systems.

A database administrator oversees the creation of databases for the storage of data from multiple sources, maintaining the databases, and ensuring data is available for use within an organization. This includes:

• Monitoring the sources of data inflow to the database.

• Updating the database.

• Setting up new databases.

• Creating database backups and recovery systems.

Data Architect

According to Coursera, Data architects are IT professionals who leverage their computer science and design skills to review and analyze the data infrastructure of an organization, plan future databases, and implement solutions to store and manage data for organizations and their users.

Data Architects are data professionals who design, create, and develop an organization's data architecture for their database systems. They define the structure for storing data, securing, and managing the flow of data from diverse data sources. They define and oversee the overall structure, design, and governance of data systems and environments.

Data architects use various methods and tools, such as data modeling, data warehousing, data integration, and data security, to create and implement data strategies and policies. Data architects often work with data engineers, data analysts, and data scientists to ensure the alignment and compatibility of data systems and solutions.

Data Engineer

According to Corporate Finance Institute, A data engineer is an individual responsible for managing, optimizing, overseeing, and monitoring data retrieval, storage, and distribution.

A data engineer develops and configures data systems such as databases and large-scale processing systems. They collect, manage, process, validate and optimize data for further use.

A data engineer designs, builds, and maintains the infrastructure and architecture that enable data collection, storage, processing, and analysis. Data engineers use various technologies and tools, such as cloud computing, big data frameworks, pipelines, and databases, to create and manage data systems. Data engineers often work with data analysts and data scientists to ensure the quality, reliability, and scalability of data.

Data Scientist

According to Microsoft Azure, A data scientist collects, analyzes, and interprets big data to uncover patterns and insights, make predictions, and create actionable plans.

A Data Scientist is a data professional who applies advanced techniques and methods, such as machine learning, statistical methods, artificial intelligence, and programming, to analyze large and complex data sets. Data scientists use data to build models, algorithms, and systems that can generate predictions, classifications, or recommendations.

Data Analyst

According to Coursera, A data analyst collects, cleans, and interprets data sets in order to answer a question or solve a problem.

A data analyst is a data professional who manipulates data to extract trends, patterns, and insights into useful business information enabling businesses to harness their data estate to maximize value and make data-driven decisions.

A data analyst is someone who collects, cleans, organizes, and explores data to answer specific questions or solve problems. Data analysts use various methods and tools, such as spreadsheets, databases, statistics, and visualization, to perform data analysis. Data analysts often work closely with business stakeholders, managers, or clients to understand their needs and provide insights and recommendations based on data.

Data Visualization Specialist

Data Visualization Specialists are storytelling experts they use visual techniques to present data, making it easier to understand trends, outliers, and patterns in data.

Data visualization specialists create and design visual representations of data, such as charts, graphs, maps, and dashboards. Data visualization specialists use various tools and techniques, such as color, shape, size, and interactivity, to communicate data effectively and efficiently. Data visualization specialists often work with data analysts and data scientists to present and explain data insights and findings visually.

Conclusion

Data roles are diverse and dynamic, and they offer many opportunities and challenges for data professionals. Data roles require different skills, tools, and knowledge, but they also share some common characteristics, such as curiosity, creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration. Data roles are essential for making sense of the data that surrounds us and using it to improve our lives and society.

PS:

Here is an AI-generated description of the roles mentioned in this article

Here’s a comparison of the roles you mentioned:

Please note that the exact responsibilities can vary from company to company.

Data is information

Data is information that we can use to learn about things. For example, you can use data to learn about your favorite animals, colors, foods, or games. Data can be words, numbers, pictures, sounds, or anything else that tells us something.

Data is everywhere

Data is everywhere around us. You can find data in books, magazines, newspapers, websites, apps, TV shows, movies, music, and more. You can also make your data by asking questions, doing experiments, or observing things. For example, you can make data by counting how many cars pass by your window, how many times you can jump on one foot, how many colors you can see in a rainbow, how many dresses you have, and where you ate last night.

Data is fun

Data is fun because you can use it to discover new things, solve problems, or create stories. You can also use data to play games, draw pictures, or make music. For example, you can use data to play tic-tac-toe, hangman, bingo, sudoku, crossword puzzles, or trivia. You can also use data to draw graphs, charts, or maps. You can also use data to make songs, poems, or jokes.

Data is important

Data is important because it helps us understand the world and make good decisions. For example, you can use data to know what time to go to bed, what to eat for breakfast, when you were in school last, who visited you or what to wear for the weather. You can also use data to help other people, animals, or plants. For example, you can use data to recycle, save water, or plant trees.

Data tells us more about things, helps us understand better and guides us in making the right decisions. Data is like your teacher giving you more insight on a subject.

I hope you learned something from the data in this article. See you in the next article. Cheers

Hi, welcome to my blog where I write about interesting Python stuff, this article is centered around the os.walk() function.

WHAT IS OS.WALK() FUNCTION?

Before I get to the formal description of what this is,

Imagine you have a pile of books in different boxes, unpacking the books to see the contents is a hell of a strenuous task and you wouldn't want to go that route. The stated scenario is similar to the files and directories of your computer.

Let's say you want to check the contents of a folder that in itself has one or more sub-folders, checking the files would be time-consuming and strainous just like with the books. This is where the python os.walk() function serves as a life-saver.

The os.walk() function walks through a folder and its subfolders their file contents and displays their contents. It accepts one argument, which is the path of the folders and files to be iterated.

HOW CAN I USE THIS THEN?

Just like the python range() function that loops through a range of numbers, the os.walk() function also iterated through a specified path returns 3 values:

• A string of the current folder's name.

• A list of strings of the folders in the current folder.

• A list of strings of the files in the current folders.

Let's get our hands to work.

Enter this into your interactive shell:

myPath = '/home/udoka/Desktop'        #replace this with a path in your system
#iterating through the folders and files in myPath
for folderName, subfolder, fileName in os.walk(myPath):
     print('the current folder is' + folderName)
     print(subfolder)        #this returns a list of all subfolders
     print(fileName)         #this returns a list of all files
     for aSubFolder in subfolder:
         print('the current subfolder =' + aSubFolder)
     for eachFile in fileName:
         print('the file inside is =' + folderName + eachFile)
     print('\n')

WHAT NEXT???

Now, you can combine this function, with other functions in the shutil and os modules, to create new files, move, archive and rename files.

Thanks for reading, do leave a reaction to this. You can reach out to me on Twitter

Welcome to this article, where I will show you 18 Git commands used regularly when contributing to open source projects.

Here is what we will discuss;

• What is Git
• 18 Git Commands
  • Git clone
  • Git init
  • Git branch
  • Git checkout
  • Git status
  • Git add
  • Git commit
  • Git push
  • Git pull
  • Git revert
  • Git review
  • Git merge
  • Git fetch
  • Git remote
  • Git reset
  • Git rm
  • Git log
  • Git show

What is Git

According to Wikipedia, Git is software for tracking changes in any set of files, usually used for coordinating work among programmers collaboratively developing source code during software development. Simply put, Git is the tool for accessing projects, tracking changes, deleting, and updating changes to a project residing in a remote computer which is accessed through the internet.

18 Git Commands

1. Git clone: downloads a copy of a project to your local computer.
2. Git init: sets your local project to be ready for operations with git.

3. Git branch: creates, lists, renames and deletes branches.

   • git branch : create a new branch. This does not switch to the new branch automatically.
   • git branch --list: list all branches this works the same way as git branch, delete, or rename a branch.
   • git branch -d : delete a specific branch. This prevents you from deleting a branch with unmerged changes, if you want to delete the branch anyway, use git branch -D, to forcefully delete the branch.
   • git branch -m : rename a branch

4. Git checkout: moves from one to another existing branch.

5. Git status: checks and display details of the current state of your local repository.
6. Git add: includes file changes to the local repository.

7. Git commit: saves included file changes for publishing to the remote repository.

   • Git commit -m"": attaches the commit message to all files saved for publishing.
   • Git commit -a: launches the terminal where the commit message is written.After entering the commit message, press ctrl+x then Enter to save the commit message.
   • Git commit --amend: launches the terminal and allows you to edit your previous commit message and updates the commit message across all affected files to be published.
   • Git commit --amend --no-edit: automatically applies previous commit message to the current commit made.

8. Git push: publishes your committed changes from your local repository to the remote repository.

9. Git pull: downloads content from the remote repository to your local repository.
10. Git revert: creates a new commit with rolled back changes of the old commit without deleting the old commit.

11. Git review: commonly used on gerrit, git review does the following:

    • it looks up which branch to push to in the .git review file. If it can't find this information, it pushes to master.
    • it figures out what "topic" to put on the revision (you can set the topic manually with -t).
    • if you're resubmitting a downloaded change, it will reuse the tag of the original change.
    • if your commit summary contains a bug number like bug T12345, the tag will be bug/12345 else, the tag will be the name of your local branch.
    • it rebases your change against the HEAD of the branch you're pushing to (you can use git review -R to skip this).
    • if you are submitting more than one change at once, or submitting a change that's based on another unmerged change, it will ask you whether you really meant to do that (use -y to skip this).
    • finally, it pushes the change for review.

12. Git merge: is used to integrate changes from another branch into your branch.

13. Git fetch: only downloads new data from a remote repository but doesn't integrate this new data into your working files.
14. Git remote: manages connections to other remote repositories tracked on your local repository.
15. Git reset: used to undo uncommitted changes.
16. Git rm: removes tracked file(s) from a Git repository.
17. Git log: shows all commits in your local repository.
18. Git show: displays more details on commits made in your local repository.

Resources

• git guides
• git tower
• stackoverflow

Thanks for reading. Hope you found this useful. Feel free to share this article with your network, you can also signup to my newsletter to get updates of new articles published on my blog.

Let's connect on Twitter

Some persons(especially beginners) choose programming languages for reasons like;

• It is in invoke
• Many people are using it
• Alot of people are talking about it and so on.

If these are the reasons you chose python as a programming language, I would advice you have a rethink.

Before choosing a language,take these few steps;

1. Get a book and pen, write out why you chose to write codes.
2. What do you want to achieve from programming and what are your areas of interest?
3. Do some research on various programming languages.
4. Now, choose a programming language that you would like to use in achieving these aims.

If you still chose PYTHON, congratulations and welcome on board

Brief overview of python

Python is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language, used for diverse purposes . It is a dynamically typed language written in simple English terms and is therefore great for beginners.

You would also want to keep in mind that, Python is an interpreted language,meaning that it does not just translate your codes into an object code, but it does a line by line translation of your code such that once an error is found, it automatically halts the program execution, this does not mean all your codes from the point where it was halted downwards are wrong, but it might just be an error at the point it halted execution. This would help you in understanding how your program is being executed by Python and save you the PANIC.

You need to get an Integrated Development Environment and get it installed

To get started, here are some things to familiarize with, I have also added some links to these concepts;

• Object Oriented programming

• Python conventions

I would recommend you also familiarize with Data Structures and Algorithms

For starters, get the book, 'Automating the boring the stuff with python' , it is a great start for beginners.

Good luck on your coding journey, I hope to see your amazing products soon.

Thanks for reading this, Feel free to drop your comments and like this article.

In this blog article, we would be looking at how to identify the causes of bugs(errors) in your program code and how to manage or handle resulting errors.

According to Wikipedia , Debugging in computer programming and software development is the process of finding and resolving bugs (defects or problems that prevent correct operation) within computer programs, software, or systems.

An exception is an event, which occurs during the execution of a program that disrupts the normal flow of the program's instructions

Python raises an exception whenever it encounters incorrect code during program execution.

In my previous article,"Catch the bugs", I wrote about using the try and except statement to handle possible exceptions(errors). You can also raise your own exceptions in your code in a more understandable format you desire using the raise statement.

The raise statement

The raise statement is usually used within a function definition and the try and except statements to handle errors resulting within the program code.

In a program without the try and except statement, on program execution, once the python interpreter encounters a raise statement, it automatically crashes the program and display the message passed to the exception() function as string, otherwise, it stops the program execution and moves to the except statement. We would look at examples on this later in this article.

How to raise exceptions using the "raise" statement

In order to define your own ways of handling possible errors in your code using the raise statement, the raise statement must consist of;

• The raise keyword
• An Exception() function call
• Your desired error message passed as a string to the Exception() function.

As mentioned earlier, the try and except can be used with the raise statement.

Now let us go further to see some implementations of this.

Simple Implementation of the raise statement

Like I mentioned in the raise statement section above, raise statements are usually used within a function. Let us see how this is done;

Suppose, a mall has a rule for packaging customer purchased items, such that, only 6 chocolates, 4 burgers and 5 cupcakes can be put in a shopping bag.

We would define a function that takes in the number of chocolates, burgers and cupcakes to be put in a shopping bag and raises an exception where they are more than 6,4,5 respectively.

For these examples, I would be using Vs-code and python 3.8.2.

In your choice editor, enter the following (you can use your preferred message with the Exception calls);

def bagChecker(chocolates, burgers, cupcakes):
    if chocolates > 6:
        raise Exception('You have exceeded the number of chocolates for one shopping bag')
    if burgers > 4:
        raise Exception('You have exceeded the number of chocolates for one shopping bag')
    if cupcakes > 5:
        raise Exception('You have exceeded the number of chocolates for one shopping bag')

Now call this function and pass the following values as argument, and run your program.

bagChecker(4, 7, 9)

Your output would be;

Now let us put this bagChecker() function within the try and except statement,

try:
    bagChecker(4, 7, 9)
except Exception as error:
    print(str(error))

Your output would be;

Notice, the difference in the presentation of the error message, for the first example, the code crashed, then raised the exception, that resulted in the output as seen in example 1.

While, in the second example, the program execution in the try statement on encountering an exception, stopped and moved over to the except statement passed the error message in the exception() into 'error', then the error message was displayed in a simple and straight-forward format using the print statement.

From this, you can see that inserting your raise statement within a try and except statement provides;

• A more clarified and straight-forward way of identifying causes of program errors with personalized error messages other than the default python error message.
• Handles errors more grace-fully instead of letting the entire program crash.

Thanks for reading.

I hope this was resourceful.

Drop a like and/or a comment.

Like with me, perhaps this is your first time hearing Gerrit, and you might be wondering, "What is Gerrit". Let's go on you would find out more about this.

This article would provide an overview of Gerrit.

What is Gerrit?

Gerrit: just like Github, Gitlab, Bit-bucket, or any other code-review tool, it is a web-based code review tool built on git version control that provides a framework you and your teams can use to review code before it becomes part of the codebase.

Some Awesome Features of Gerrit.

• Commits made to Gerrit are done in Patches called Patch sets.
• Gerrit allows for the addition of code reviewers on patches.
• On Gerrit, commits made are automatically assigned a Change-Id which can be seen once the first patch is made on a branch.
• It also presents you with buttons you could either use to rebase, abandon, restore an abandoned patch, revert a merged patch or make edits to your changes.
• If for some reason you lose your local files, after making commits to your Gerrit account, Gerrit provides you with an option to download the exact patch you need, with the change previously made to the Patch and any sub-patch on the parent patch.
• All files where changes are made in a patch-set are listed out, as seen here.
• Gerrit allows for comments on changes to be made directly on the affected area, by simply highlighting the area and pressing "c" on your keyboard, a comment box appears, where you can now enter your comment, save, then at the top of the commit page, click on reply to send your comment. as seen here.
• It provides you with a Graphical User Interface (G.U.I) that allows for making edits to affected files as seen here;

This allows for efficient and more specific ways of communication between the reviewer and contributor. For example;

Here, I placed a comment on Line 221 of the script/pagefromfile.py file. It shows a descriptive hyperlink showing the affected file and the line. Clicking on the file name takes you to the file script/pagefromfile.py, and clicking on line 221 takes you to the point where the comment was made.

• Like your social platform chats are organized in sequential order, Gerrit organizes uploaded patches, their corresponding comments, and subsequent patches in their order of arrival sequentially, this helps users track recent comments and patches as seen below.

An Overview of Some Gerrit Functionalities

For this article, I would use my Wikimedia Gerrit account to explain further. Here is an overview of a Gerrit GUI.

As seen from the image above, there are some differences between Gerrit and other code review tools you know. Let me walk you through the functionalities of the different sections of this tool using the numbered areas in the diagram.

1. This shows the status of your commit, which can be:

   • Active: indicates your commit is still in the review process.
   • Merged: indicates your commit has been reviewed and merged to the codebase.
   • Abandoned: indicates your commit/patch set would not be reviewed and has been dropped from the review list.
   • Merge Conflict: indicates your patch set has a conflict with the codebase.

2. This is the last number associated with your commit in the URL.

3. This contains the commit message as seen in the image,

   • [IMPR] Rewrite scripts new option handler.
   • The Id of the issue, like Bug: T264721.
   • Change-Id: the number automatically associated with your patch set on successful commit.

4. Changes includes the following;

   • Open: shows all open commits/patch-sets.
   • Merged: shows all merged commits/patch-sets.
   • Abandoned: shows all abandoned commits/patch-sets.

5. Reply: This is where you can add comments if you do not want to comment on a particular code area.

6. Your: consists of the following;

   • Dashboard: This leads you to your personal dashboard as seen here;
   • Draft Comments: This shows all unsent comments on patchsets.
   • Edits: This shows all patch-sets you have made edits to its code.
   • Watched Changes
   • Starred Changes
   • Groups: points to the group section under your settings.

7. Documentation: this covers the documentation of the gerrit tool and contains the following;

   • Table of content: shows the documentation for the gerrit review tool , you can read this to understand more about this tool and how to interact with it.
   • Searching: launches the search option of the documentation.
   • Uploading
   • Access Control
   • RESTAPI
   • Project Owner guide

8. Browse: this contains the following:

   • Repositories: lists code repositories under a project.
   • Plugins: lists all plugins under a project.
   • Groups: lists groups within a project.
   • Code search: allows search for codes within repositories in a project.

9. Search Bar: allows searches to be made across the contents of a project.

10. Add reviewer: here you can add reviewers to your patchset. For example, I added Xqt, Jenkins bot, and xSavitar as reviewers to this patch-set.

11. This shows the status of tests performed on your patchset. For example, this patch-set passed all tests and the status as shown below indicates success.

12. Rebase: option for integrating changes to your patch.

13. Abandon: option for dropping a patch-set.

14. Edit: option to edit the code in a patch-set from the Gerrit GUI.

15. This includes the following options:

    • Download Patch: allows you to download the exact patch-set with all the previous changes made to the patch.
    • Mark reviewed
    • Cherry Pick

16. Here you can view and edit your profile settings and other settings on Gerrit.

17. Merge Conflicts: this shows patches with merge conflicts from other contributors and if any merge conflicts your own contributions.

18. Restore: the restore option allows you to restore an abandoned patch-set.

19. Revert: the revert option allows you to revert a merged patch-set.

Hope this was helpful, you can leave a comment or your choice emoji.

Thank you for reading, I would love to connect with you at Twitter .

Do share your valuable feedback and suggestions!

What is Open source?

Open source is a software just like your bank apps, but one in which it's original source code(initial codes used in developing the software) is made public (open to access by the public), which you could contribute your quota to it's progress.

What then is Open Source Contribution?

Open source contribution is the collaboration of individuals from different areas of specialization in technology to the progress of a project.

Why should I contribute to open source projects?

It is normal have the thought,'If I am not getting paid why should I be concerned about contributing to open source', but contributing to open source;

• Exposes you to better easier and simpler codes
• Broadens your knowledge on implement of algorithms in more easier and neater.
• Helps you get comfortable with working with teams.
• Expands your knowledge on diverse languages, their incorporation with frameworks, and multiple ways of implementing different ideas in technology.
• Exposes to different areas in technology and broadens your knowledge.
• Builds a formidable network.
• You get recognized for your effort.

How can I contribute to open source?

Making open source contributions can be done in multiple ways, some of which include;

• Documentation: by either effecting changes to the projects documentation or drafting new documentations for projects.
• Coding: contributing to the project code base, this would require some programming skills.
• Reporting issues/bugs.
• Translating project documentations.
• Advocate for a project.
• Designs.

Before, you get started, I'd advice you pick a project, you would love to be contributing to and be intentional about your efforts, and also grow with the project, this helps build your leverage in no time. You don't want to go around without doubling your efforts. When I got started, I almost fell into this category, all thanks to my guide, Raphael Noriode, I was out of it sooner.

After picking a project what's next?

As a beginner to open source you would want to pick up issues with labels such as: good first issue , help wanted, beginners only, or newcomers only, While you familiarize with the project, read up the READ.md and CONTRIBUTING.md files.

Also, check out for links to the discussion forums for the project you are contributing to and join, this might either be a Slack or discord channel.

You don't need to be scared or feel intimidated, open source is a very welcoming space, make sure to ask questions when you need help. You can tag the project maintainers (people who oversee the project progress and continuity) or the person that reported an issue on your comments. Wait for a response from them, this might take time as they are really occupied with loads of jobs, so joining a discussion forum and asking your questions would be more preferable. If you choose to ask your questions in their discussion forums, make sure to reference the issue you are facing through a link.

Now you have chosen an issue to fix, the next thing to do is show an interest on the issue , this simply means leaving a comment on the issue indicating interest.

Once, this is done, you should await responses and if the issue is still available you would be assigned the issue. Once you get assigned the issue, now it's time to fork and clone the repository, to effect changes. This article here, Making my first commits is a good guide for this.

Thank you for reading this article, if you need any further guide on this, you can reach out to me on Twitter .

Your comments are very welcomed.

First, it is important you understand that GitHub just like Gitlab is built on git, which is a command line tool, this simply means GitHub gives you among other features, a graphical interface to git. Working with git and GitHub would require executing some lines of codes on your computer terminal. Let's get to work.

If you are new to open source contributions, you might want to take a look at my other article on a beginner guide to open source contribution to get you started.

I'd like to think you have read the contributing.md and read.md files of the project you chose,picked up an issue to fix on the project, indicated interest and have been assigned the issue.

In order to make contributions to a project, you would have to fork the repository (get a copy of the project to your GitHub account), at the top-right you would see a fork button as shown below:

Also take note of the number of the issue usually displayed as, for example, #12, you would need this while making your pull request later on.

Wait for this to be done Next, click on the clone button as seen here: Then copy the url you see, click on this icon or highlight the url and copy, you would soon be needing this url you just copied. Now, go to your computer terminal and enter the following;

First, you should make a directory where this project files would be downloaded into your local computer, and change into that directory as shown here

It is now time to get the project files from your earlier cloned GitHub repository to your computer, this is done by, entering git clone then paste the link you copied like this

git clone https://github.com/UdokaVrede/awesome-github-profiles.git

your link should have a .git extension at the end when pasted. Press enter, and wait for the project to get cloned to your local computer as seen below

Once, completed, close the terminal and open the folder you just created in your preferred code editor, I used visual studio code for this.

On your terminal, enter the following as shown below

git checkout -b main

main is the name I gave to my branch, so give your branch a name, please do not use main as this might be the name of the actual branch on your repository, you do not need conflicts.

This creates a new branch which is a duplicate of the original branch from it's beginning to the point where the new branch was created, this is done to avoid messing up contents of your original branch. Now you are in a new branch, enter this in your terminal,

git init

as seen here

Now go ahead to make your changes. For the issue I am fixing here, which is a typo in contributing.md of this project, I'd have to locate Contributing.md to fix the error as seen.

Make all the required changes and save. This was the typo. Now you can add, commit and push your changes back to the branch you created earlier. Note, to see the current status of your work, run

git status

you would see something like this; you can now add the changes, you made by running,

git add .

to add all changes,

or

git add CONTRIBUTING.md

to add specific files or folders.

Note, you should replace CONTRIBUTING.md with the name of the modified file, I used CONTRIBUTING.md because, it is the file I made changes to as seen above. To see that your changes have been added, run

git status

Next, commit your changes with a message on what you did as seen below

git commit -m ''your message should go in here''

Note: Different projects have their own specified way of making commits. At Layer5, where I have made some contributions, you are required to add a sign-off message, do well to read the contributing.md file carefully while making your contributions.

Now you have committed your changes, next, you would push your changes to the branch you created earlier, if you can no longer remember the name, run

git branch

you would see the name of the branch, as seen Now, push the branch you just saw, by running

git push origin main

Note: main is my branch name so use the name you saw when you ran the git branch command

Next, go back to your github repository, you forked and refresh, you would see this

Click on compare when this appears; If you there are no conflicts, you would see the "Able to merge" message in green. you can scroll down to see the changes you made, also notice your commit message you entered earlier while making your commit besides your profile image.

Creating your pull request

When creating pull request as shown below, reference the issue which your pull request fixes, this can be done by simply stating points like

This pull request fixes issue #followed by the issue number

In this case, mine was 74, if you forgot this, right-click on issues and open the issues in a new tab, search for the issue you are fixing and get the number of that issue.

You also need to give a brief and detailed description of what you did, do not forget to do this, it explains your changes to the maintainers, as seen above.

When this is done, click on the green colored create pull request button to create your pull request and this below brings you to a successful end of your first commit.

Congratulations to you.

Once, your pull request is reviewed and satisfied to have met its necessary requirements in relation to the issue, it would be merged.

Kudos to you, you are finally an Open Source Contributor.

If you have any further issues or questions, feel free to contact me on Twitter and follow me on Github.

If this was helpful, drop a comment, like or share to your friends

In this article, I would work you through the basic operators in python

Let's go ahead;

What are Operators?

Operators are simply symbols used in performing arithmetic or logical operations on one or more operands. Operands on the other hand, are the values on which these operations are performed to produce a result.

Classification of Python Operators

For the purpose of this article, we would be looking at the three(3) main classifications of python operators, which include;

1). Arithmetic Operators:

The arithmetic operators takes one or more operands and performs mathematical operations on them then it returns a value whose type is determined by the type of the operands. Further details of python data types would be seen in my preceding articles.

Let's see the types of arithmetic operators in python:

• Exponent ** used for your usual math raise to power calculations
• Modulus % used to get the remainder part of division
• Integer division/floored quotient // gets the whole number part of division
• Division / gives both the whole number and remainder of division
• Multiplication *
• Subtraction -
• Addition +

let's see some examples of the above operators, enter the code below in your python shell

From the above notice that, 3**4, gave 81,this is same as your usual 3^4 done in mathematics. 7%2 resulted in 1 this is because when 2 divides 7, the answer you get is 3 remainder 1, %(modulus) gives the remainder and not the whole number, while // (integer divisor) gives the whole number part, also / (division operator) gives the whole result both the whole number and remainder part.

Also, - Parentheses () is used for grouping values
let's see how this can be implemented, Assume you want to add 3 to 2 then multiply it by 3, now 2+3=5 and 5*3=15, in the code below see how using the () helps group your values to obtain accurate results and what happens if otherwise.

2). Comparison Operators:

These operators evaluate two values and returns a boolean value either true or false.

The comparison operators are:

• == Equal to checks that value a is same as value b
• != Not equal to checks that value a is not same as value b
• '>=' Greater than or Equal to checks that value a is greater than or equal to value b
• <= Less than or equal to checks that value a is lesser than or equal to value b
• '>' Greater than checks that value a is greater than value b
• < Lesser than checks that value a is lesser than value b

Let's see some examples;

Next is;

3). Logical Operators:

These operators take two (2) operands, perform operations on them and returns a boolean value which could be either True or False

Operators in this category are used to compare or combine operands, they include;

• and returns True if both operands are True else it returns False
• or returns True if one or the both operands are True, else it returns False
• not returns the negative value of an operands

Let's see some examples,

I hope this article was helpful.

Thank you for reading this, Feel free to leave a comment and/or share with your contact.

Let's connect on Twitter.

When I started coding, I remember a time when I had a bug that took me two days to find and when I did, it was a semicolon at the end of my for loop.

The big question now is, 🤨 How did I skip that?

Let's say 🤔

• The lengthy error message
• You were tensed
• Anxiety
• You taught you know every detail of the code,(sure!, you did write those codes).

You definitely are not experiencing anything different, someone else has.

So, why not find a way to catch the bugs, you know might occur.

How do I then catch these errors(bugs), and make the errors understandable to anyone?🤔

In this article, I would be show you through on how this can be implemented in a simple Python program using the TRY and EXCEPT clauses.

Let’s get started;

Now get your devices on which you run your python codes handy, if you don’t have a device, there are numerous online python IDE you can utilize, I’d recommend, https://www.onlinegdb.com/online_python_compiler.

Using a simple division problem as an example,

create a new file and enter the following lines of code, then save and run;

def divise(a,b):    #initialization of the function to divide two numbers
    return a/b    #return value gotten from division

print(divise(6,0))    #print value returned by the function call and input of values for variables,’a’ and             ‘b’
print(divise(18,2))
print(divise(25,5))

when this code is executed, you would notice that it’s execution was halted, as soon as the interpreter met with an error in the first print statement which resulting from dividing 6 by 0.

We don’t want our program execution to be interrupted by bugs, that might take time understanding and not to mention, bugs we know are likely to happen. So what now.

When you inputted zero as a divisor, it might have skipped your memory that zero as a divisor would result in a RUNTIME ERROR,ZeroDivisionError,(this was exactly the error given by the interpreter).

Let’s get our bugs using a TRY and EXCEPT clause to catch subsequent errors like this, by putting potential error resultant codes in the TRY clause;

• Create a new file and enter the following lines of code, then save and run

def divise(a,b):
    try:
        return a/b    

    except ZeroDivisionError:
        print(‘Look again, you have entered zero(0) as a divisor’)



print(divise(6,2))    
print(divise(18,0))
print(divise(25,5))

• Go ahead, execute the code, now you can see that when the interpreter got to the point where zero is the divisor, a detailed text was printed out. This helps you know what actually happened and what caused the error in simple understandable terms .

You can also put your function calls in the TRY and EXPECT clauses, again create a new file and enter these codes:

def divise(a,b):    
    return a/b    
try:
    print(divise(6,0))    
    print(divise(18,2))
    print(divise(25,5))

except ZeroDivisionError:
    print(‘Look again, you have entered zero(0) as a divisor’)

• You would notice that subsequent lines of codes were not executed, this is because, when the interpreter enters the EXPECT clause, it does not go back to the TRY clause, but continues downwards to the end. Change the print statement with the divisor to the last place and see that all codes are executed, you can play around with this.

Now you got your bug in a container, you can easily locate and fix the error.

💪Kudos to you, Great Job!.

If you found this interesting, feel free to drop a comment, share with your contacts and you can also sign up to my newsletter for more interesting content like this.