It's on! Google Summer of Code 2007 has officially been announced! Drupal has been an enthusiastic participant in the SoC program for the past two years, and we want to make sure that SoC 2007 will be better than ever!

Past Drupal Summer of Code participants have gone on to enjoy great careers as professional Drupal developers and have continued to contribute great and exciting code to the Drupal project long after SoC has ended. Thanks to all the students and mentors, and especially to Google, for making this such a great program.

Read on for more info on how to get involved!

What is "Summer of Code"?

Summer of Code is a fantastic program where Google pays students stipends to work on open source programs over the summer. Each student is paired with one or more mentors from an open source community such as Drupal, and works on a project over the summer.

There's a lot more information available in Google's Summer of Code FAQ and Knowledge Base.

What's new and exciting this year?

The program timeline is much different this year than it was the last two years. For one, Google has given lots of notice (the program doesn't "officially" kick off until May 28). This means we as a community have longer to prepare, and accepted students have longer to get initiated into the community, both of which are huge wins!

I want to be a student for Drupal. What should I do?

While you can't formally apply for the program until March 14, it's never too early to start getting involved! Subscribe to the developer mailing list, look over the developer's guide and API reference, catch up on the lessons at the Drupal Dojo. and just start playing with Drupal and some contributed modules to see what you can do.

Most of all, start thinking about your project proposal. It's also never too early to start forming ideas around what type of project you want to do, research whether the project is really needed, whether it is doable in the Summer of Code time period, and even start on your application!

Read the Advice for Students page for more tips.

I want to be a mentor. What should I do?

You should apply to join the SoC-2007 Mentors group. The group is moderated, and your application will be reviewed. Please describe who you are, what your level of Drupal experience is, and your motivation for being a mentor. Please make sure to read the Advice for Mentors page for more tips.

I have project suggestions

Project ideas are being collected and discussed on the Proposed Projects page. Bear in mind that proposed projects should be "do-able" within a 3 month time frame by a student who may not know anything about Drupal (but it's safe to assume they know how to program).

Any questions?

Post them here, or join us in #drupal-soc on the FreeNode IRC network (irc.freenode.net). You can also ask questions or discuss your own proposals in the SoC 2007 group