Google to sponsor young open-source developers

The search engine recently launched its Summer Code program, intended to support students in testing their programming skills by developing open-source codes. The program will last for two and a half months, and will involve 200 students registered in open-source organizations, whose entire code-writing process will be closely monitored. If they are able to get trough to the end of the program, each of them will be awarded the sum of 4,500 USD.

The purpose of this initiative is to discover new programming talents and facilitate their contact with the major open-source development companies.

The deadline for signing up for this Summer Code program is June 14, but Google keeps the criteria for making it into the program a secret. Google's only requirement was that the applicants must mention the name of the school they're attending.

Summer Code has a budget of 900,000 USD in cash and represents Google's most recent effort in supporting the open-source community. The search engine also managed to acquire the services of one of the major open-source solutions developers, who participated to some extent in the development of the Firefox browser, thus trying to accelerate the development of its own Google browser design strategy. In March, the company also launched a website, whose purpose is to host open-source applications developed for Google.

Within the Summer Code project, the participants commit to developing a certain application for an open-source company, and if the task is completed successfully, the programmer will receive a bonus 500 USD.

For more information, go to http://code.google.com/summerofcode.html