About the Dev Garden

The Dev Garden is a physical, virtual, and social space at Macalester that supports student software projects.

Who can get involved?

The space is open to students of all majors, roles, backgrounds and ability levels. Software projects need a wide variety of skills, and thus need a wide variety of people. Jump in! You might be surprised how helpful you can be — and how much fun you can have helping.

What projects does it support?

All projects that involve software are welcome: capstones, course projects, internship work, business ideas, endeavors of social entrepreneurship, open source projects, art projects, and of course pure labors of love. The Dev Garden also welcomes any projects that are open to student participation, even if they are not student-led.

How can I get involved?

Wait, I can just show up?

Yes! There are open consulting hours for anyone to drop by and get expert help, find collaborators, get some moral support, or just enjoy the community of interesting people building cool things.

Do I need to already have a project all figured out?

No! The best time to come talk is when you’re not sure where to start.

Perhaps you have an idea that will need software, but you’re not a developer. Perhaps you aren’t sure how to approach a problem. Perhaps you’re looking for a good problem to cut your teeth on. Perhaps you’re looking for a project to participate in, but aren’t what skills you can offer or how they might fit in.

These are all great reasons to visit.

Who’s behind it?

The Dev Garden is run by MSCS professor and freelance software developer Paul Cantrell ’98. It is housed in the Idea Lab. The name came from a suggestion by Hannah Brown ’15.