Welcome To Melange

Melange is the software that administers the Google Code-in contest and Google Summer of Code program through their respective websites. Created in 2008, Melange was first used to run Google Summer of Code in 2009 (earlier Google Summer of Code programs were managed with a Google-proprietary web application). As Google Summer of Code and Google Code-in grew in size and features each year, Melange grew with them to support their needs. Today Melange is a mature, actively maintained open source software project.

Melange, Google Code-in, Google Summer of Code...Huh?

Google Code-in and Google Summer of Code are two sister programs (respectively task-oriented and project-oriented) run by the Google Open Source Programs office. Melange is the software behind the websites that are used to administer these two programs. Depending on the time of year you visit the Melange home page, you may see program information for Google Code-in or Google Summer of Code.  You have the option to change your view by clicking the blue link in upper right hand corner.

Is this book for me?

This is the first book written solely for those interested in Google Code-in and how to interact with the Melange software. This manual is only intended for people who have questions about using the Melange-driven Google Code-in website itself.

Please note that we have existing user manuals for Students, Mentors, and Organization Administrators who are participating in Google Summer of Code. If you have general questions about the program or how to participate in a certain role, we recommend that you look at those user manuals instead. You can find the Google Summer of Code Student manual at http://en.flossmanuals.net/GSoCStudentGuide/ and the Google Summer of Code Mentor and Organization Administrator manual at http://en.flossmanuals.net/gsocmentoring/.

For the Melange manual about how to use the Google Code Summer of Code website you can view the book at http://en.flossmanuals.net/melange.

Can I use Melange for my own projects?

Probably! Melange is open source software, and we welcome you to deploy the software to use in whatever ways are applicable to your projects. Melange has a lot of features that are specific to Google Code-in and Google Summer of Code, so please note you may need to change the code to suit your needs. Feel free to reach out to the Melange developers at melange-soc-dev@googlegroups.com if you have any questions about your deployment. 

I want to volunteer to help develop on Melange

That's great! Melange is an open source project that can always use patches and additional contributing community members. We have an active developer base that you can get in touch with at melange-soc-dev@googlegroups.com. You can also visit the general project page at http://code.google.com/p/soc.