[Haskell-cafe] GSOC application level

[Mateusz Kowalczyk]

Greetings,

It seems that the Haskell community consistently participates in the
Google Summer of Code project. I (and probably many others) am
interested in taking part in one of such projects but I have a question
in regards to the expertise. I know that this year's projects aren't up
yet but by looking at the past results, the expertise required seems to
vary pretty widely.

Can someone that has been around for a bit longer comment on what level
of experience with Haskell and underlying concepts is usually expected
from candidates? Are applications discarded simply based on the
applicant not having much previous experience in the target area? What
is the level of the competition for places on the projects?

It's not my first week of meddling with Haskell (and studying the ideas
behind it) but I can't say that I would be able to confidently take on
any project that might be put out. I do however realise that the project
is open to students so I don't imagine the requirements specify
something like couple of years with type theory research either.

Any insight about the topic is appreciated. I'd much rather flip bits
than do labour this summer and if it can be done using the language I'm
interested in, even better!
-- 
Mateusz K.