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README Section
The most important part of your portfolio project is the README.md file found at the root of your repository.
It's the first thing that hiring managers will see because platforms like GitHub and GitLab render the README.md file front-and-center on the project's page.
Many hiring managers won't even take the time to look at the actual code, let alone clone and run it. They'll read the README, and from there decide if you're worth any more of their time.
Page Structure
A good README.md often has these sections:
- Title
- Description
- Motivation
- Quick Start
- Usage
- Contributing
We will look at each of these in detail later, but for now let's work on your title.
Title Section
Give your project a good name! Don't name it "project", "API server", or "test app". Give it a name that's unique and memorable. Personality is good. Here are some examples:
- "Text Tunnel": A terminal-based real-time messaging app
- "Steamiest": A web app that tells you which of your Steam friends has the most similar game library
- "slowviz": A library that makes it easy to visualize the network latency of a Go application
Most importantly it should:
- Pique interest
- Hint at what the project does
Markdown Formatting
Your README.md should be a well-formatted Markdown file. Your title should be an H1 (heading 1, the largest heading). Subheadings should be H2s and H3s to organize the rest of your README into a neat hierarchy.
Use rich text to make your README easy to read. Don't be shy of bold, italics, numbered lists, bullet points, and other formatting options. Skimmability is good!
Assignment
Submit the link to your project's GitHub repo after you've added a title with an H1 heading.