New inside-rust blog post -- The Rustc Learning Working Group - An Introduction

posts/inside-rust/2019-10-26-rustc-learning-working-group-introduction.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "The Rustc Learning Working Group - An Introduction"
+author: Amanjeev Sethi
+description: "introduction learning working group useful links"
+team: the compiler team <https://www.rust-lang.org/governance/teams/compiler>
+---
+
+The [Learning Working Group], formed in April 2019, is focused on making the
+compiler easier to learn by ensuring that [rustc-guide] and API docs are
+"complete". It is one of the many efforts by the Rust Compiler team to
+decrease the barrier of contributing to the compiler. As noted on the WG’s
+homepage —
+
+*This working group aims to accomplish the following:*
+
+- *Ensure that major components of rustc are covered in rustc-guide*
+- *Ensure that API doc coverage is at least 90%*
+
+The Learning Group is making entry to contribute easier by improving the
+compiler documentation for the new and potential contributors. We all know
+this bias — the more time we’ve spent in a system, the less likely we are to
+see the issues that the newcomers might face. Given that, this group
+organically became an attractive place for beginners, who would benefit
+from documenting the compiler internals, while learning those parts of it
+at the same time. This benefits the entire compiler team by giving the
+documentation a perspective from the new contributors.
+
+The Learning group, in general, is starting to document the
+“Compiler lecture series”, which are a list of Youtube video lectures
+given earlier by the more knowledgeable members of the compiler team.
+There is also the task of improving the documentation structure of
+[rustc-guide]. At first, each member used to pick a video lecture by
+themselves and contribute via a Github pull request to the
+[rustc-guide Github repository]. This proved to be a bit difficult
+for the following reasons —
+
+1. Not all members would get to watch and work on the lectures of
+their choice.
+2. The knowledge would still be fragmented depending on who watched
+which lecture.
+3. Some lectures are more interesting than others and this means that
+some contributors would miss out on the interesting ones.
+4. Certain lectures are more difficult and require input from multiple
+people.
+
+Hence, at the moment, the group decided to work on one video at a time.
+This has proven to be beneficial for the entire group, especially with
+the lecture [Representing types in rustc]. At the time of this writing,
+it is still a work-in-progress but the input from everyone allows people
+to work together while benefiting from the questions that everyone has
+about the lecture.
+
+The group is still learning about the best possible ways to organize and
+manage and some compiler team veterans are always there to help out!
+We are always in need of help from both existing compiler contributors
+and new folks who want to contribute and learn.
+
+## Call for participation
+
+There is no bar to entry in the group. To join the group, you can
+drop a message in [`#t-compiler/wg-learning` on Zulip] introducing
+yourself and maybe if you have ideas on improvements to rustc-guide.
+We would love to hear from you. Hope you will reach out and help improve
+the documentation.
+
+## Important  resources
+
+- **[Learning Working Group]**
+- **[Rustc Guide Book]**
+- **[Rustc Guide Repository]**
+- **[Github Project (Kanban)]**
+- **[Learning WG Meeting Minutes]**
+- **[Rust Youtube Videos]** 
+- **[Zulip Stream: `#t-compiler/wg-learning` on Zulip]**
+
+[Learning Working Group]: https://github.com/rust-lang/compiler-team/tree/master/content/working-groups/learning
+[rustc-guide]: https://rust-lang.github.io/rustc-guide/
+[Rustc Guide Book]: https://rust-lang.github.io/rustc-guide/
+[rustc-guide Github repository]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rustc-guide
+[Rustc Guide Repository]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rustc-guide
+[Representing types in rustc]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c01TsOsr3-c
+[Github Project (Kanban)]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rustc-guide/projects/2
+[Learning WG Meeting Minutes]: https://github.com/rust-lang/compiler-team/tree/master/content/working-groups/learning/minutes
+[Rust Youtube Videos]: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaYhcUwRBNscFNUKTjgPFiA/playlists
+[rust-lang/rust]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust
+[Zulip Stream: `#t-compiler/wg-learning` on Zulip]: https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/196385-t-compiler.2Fwg-learning
+[`#t-compiler/wg-learning` on Zulip]: https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/196385-t-compiler.2Fwg-learning