OpenDaylight Intern Spotlight: Neel Bommisetty

OpenDaylight has accepted seven student interns for the summer of 2014 to work in the community and receive hands-on development experience in SDN. Each intern is working closely with an active OpenDaylight developer as their mentor on a project that suits interest and community need. 

This blog series aims to showcase the interns chosen and the projects they’re actively working on, the mentors who are aiding in their professional development and the overall experience of working in an open source community to create a common platform for SDN and NFV.

I am Neel Bommisetty from Nellore, Andhra Pradesh India. I am a Final Year Undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science and Engineering from International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

I am passionate about software development. I frequently experiment with new libraries/APIs and try to develop some random apps using those libraries/APIs. Listening to music helps a lot; it allows me to enjoy the time and be highly productive. Being knowledge-centric, I spend my time regularly looking up video tutorials, documentations and reading a lot of blogs to learn about new things. On the other hand, I am an avid fan of TV series and Anime. I am also an extreme foodie; I seek new experiences for my palate everyday.

How did you hear about OpenDaylight and what got you interested in this internship?
At my college (University), there is a dedicated group of open source developers (OSDG) of which I am an active member. I had heard about the OpenDaylight Project from members in this group. Moreover, I was assigned to learn about SDN by one of my Professors who thought it might help in future projects. This made me read and gather information about the OpenDaylight Project. On learning about OpenDaylight’s internship program, I went through intern projects ideas and the project jQuery-like Interface for MD-SAL caught my eye. I have a special interest to build developer tools. My passion and flair is javascript/jQuery in web development (I had future plans to work on similar technology like jQuery). Imagine my surprise in finding the perfect project option to suit my interests being available here! It fit my profile like a glove fits the hand. I was very lucky to be accepted for this internship program and the work has been immensely beneficial, productive and pleasurable for me.

Can you talk about your experience working on an open source project? Any previous experiences you can share or key learnings from working on OpenDaylight?
Even though I have always been interested in open source development, I was still a beginner at the time my internship began. The OpenDaylight Project gave me an excellent opportunity and inroads to contributing to open source. In the past, I have been a little hesitant to speak to other developers, so I didn't have a medium to learn or contribute to open source before this internship. The aspect of open source development that was the most appealing to me was that a group of like-minded individuals come together to create a product/service of the highest quality standards. The amazing thing about it is that so many people do the work in their own free time. This is simply altruism in the computer world, and it is very inspiring and motivating for young programmers like me.

What are you hoping to learn from your internship?
As stated earlier, I've been eager to work in open source development for quite some time, and I really relish the chance to work alongside these experienced and like-minded programmers.

I've been hoping to get exposure to and learn new programming standards and the slightly variant styles. I was eagerly expecting to learn how such an important product is developed and the stages of design involved therein. I've also been expecting to learn more about SDN and NFV concepts. When my internship is finished, I would like to continue serving as contributor to OpenDaylight to perpetuate my commitment to open source development.

All my expectations have been met and more. The productive discussions with experienced developers has been a crucial factor in my growth as a developer. I've gotten past my original hesitancy and have become bolder in communicating with other developers. It has been great to get all my doubts cleared and receive guidance and consequently, work smoothly. The time zone changes and differing work schedules initially seemed like it might present a problem for me. But surprisingly, things have turned out to be much more flexible and adaptable within the OpenDaylight community than I thought.

The repeated discussions with my mentors Colin Dixon, Ryan Moats, Devin Avery and Jan Medved has helped me become a better developer. These meetings are a necessity due to the various difficulties that arise in the course of my project and have provided me with different approaches on solving the same problem. I'm experiencing the thrill of being part of something that's much greater than an individual or organisation.

What’s your take on Software-Defined Networking? What’s do you find interesting about it?
Honestly speaking, I knew very little about SDN before this internship. I have always been into networks, and I read a lot, which is how I was introduced to SDN. All the things I know about SDN are from what I’ve read in different blogs but are not complete without practical knowledge.

Which OpenDaylight projects are you currently working on? Any cool things to share?
I am currently working on OpenDaylight Controller. My project is to design and develop a jQuery-like interface for MD-SAL. It is basically a query language for the underlying DOM of MD-SAL.

Writing custom node interfaces to wrap the underlying DOM is one of the most interesting things I've done so far. Before my internship is complete, I’ll have done many more interesting and cool things.

Who is your mentor and what’s the experience been like so far?
My mentors are Colin Dixon, Ryan Moats, Devin Avery and Jan Medved.

They all are pretty experienced developers so every discussion with them is more and more productive and professional. They are very helpful and friendly. One great aspect of working with them is how they are appreciative of the work being done -- their small word of thanks at the end of every meeting goes a long way in making me feel my work is worthwhile and makes me very happy. They are never bossy or arrogant, despite the obvious difference in our expertise and experiences.

What would be your dream job?
A well-established job in the field of computer science is an obvious choice for me. But I would like it to be flexible and free in its timings and have the requisite opportunities for me to continually learn and update my skill base.

I would like to have a job which matches my interests so that I can devote my dedication and energy to create something useful for the community.

What’s your advice to other aspiring developers out there?
The first thing potential developers must do is to get rid of any fears and apprehensions they may be carrying around. In one line, "keep calm and work hard."

Specifically, I would suggest they start contributing to some open source project or organisation like OpenDaylight. This will not only help them gain an entry into this wonderful, helping community, but it also helps him/her significantly train their skills and gain valuable acquaintances. With the feeling of giving back to the community, the satisfaction they achieve will propel them to work better, harder and smarter on their future endeavors.

What gets you jazzed to write code? Listening to music, drinking coffee, chatting in IRC, etc.?
The complexities of a problem excite me and motivate me to put more effort in writing the code. One can say the code is making me write itself. I become immersed in this exercise and feel like I am creating something awesome when coding. A sense of accomplishment follows. Listening to music amps up my focus and lets me write the code better.

Being a developer allows you to work from anywhere in the world and interact with lots of different people. What have you found most surprising about the developer community?
The developer community is a constant stream of ideas and people's dreams being turned into action. But the surprising part is that most developers are ready and willing to help a newcomer with ideas, suggestions, etc. You can be sure that there's someone out there 24x7 who is available to clear any doubts you have and help you optimize your work. Meeting all these awesome people is an added perk!!