GSoC 25' Summary | R-GSoC 2025 blog

Basic Info

Name: Mukul Kumar
Email: mukulrao6480@gmail.com
Github Username: Mukulyadav2004
Mentors: Toby Dylan Hocking, Anirban chetia, Joshua Wu
Project Title: Enhancing data.table: Enhancing Functionality, and Ensuring Quality
Project Link: data.table

Work Summary

My contributions during this period centered on resolving key bugs, documentation and extending the functionality of the data.table package. Below is a summary of the work done:

Issues	Pull Requests
move from warning to breaking change in melt/dcast #6629	#7266
fcoalesce will not replace NaN with NA_real_ #4567	#7189
mistake in help text of ?data.table for with? #4955	#7155
Error on non scalar aggregates regardless of fill #7260	#7263
fwrite to gain select and drop column(s) arguments without creating a temporary object #4177	#7236
Error messages from merge() somewhat confusingly “swap” ‘x’ and ‘i’ prefixes #6641	#7048
move from warning to breaking change in melt/dcast #6629	#7260
groupingsets() wrong scoping logic #5560	#6879
Use classed conditions as often as possible #5913	#7139
data.table(keep.rownames = TRUE) should preserve names from vectors #1916	#7136
fread should raise an error instead of a warning when reading a gzipped file that does not fit in temporary storage #5415	#7097
List Of data.table Options #6720	#7075
first(named_vector) removes names #2487	#7056
first(x) not always the same as x[1] #2002	#7056
Add functionality to print column classes at bottom #6902	#6905
Error message for unspecified join gives incorrect advice on how to do a natural join #5455	#6876
Typo in vignette on reshaping #6855	#6870
Clarify behavior of first() and last() #7056,	#7061
[key(as.data.table(x, key = )) is inconsistent, varies based on x #6859](https://github.com/Rdatatable/data.table/issues/6859)	#6865
print.data.table warns when options(datatable.show.indices=TRUE) and an index exists #6806	#6816

Overview

Taking part in Google Summer of Code this year has been a truly increadible experience. I’m grateful to my mentor for trusting me with this project and for providing steady guidance throughout the journey. The program strengthened my technical skills and at the same time gave me the confidence to tackle complex problems and explore new areas of open-source development.

Balancing academics with GSoC was challenging at times, yet it turned into one of the most rewarding aspects of the experience. Dedicating evenings and weekends to the project taught me discipline, focus, and effective time management. The encouragement and flexibility I received from my mentor made it easier to stay consistent and motivated throughout the summer.

For me, GSoC has been much more than writing code—it has been a journey of growth, learning, and collaboration. I’ll continue to contribute in improving data.table project and to carry these lessons forward into future work.

Acknowledgments

I would like to sincerely thank my mentors, Toby Dylan Hocking, Anirban Chetia and Joshua Wu for their guidance and support. Their patience, quick feedback, and insightful suggestions pushed me to think critically and improve the quality of my work. Many of the principles I learned from them have changed how I approach coding and problem-solving.

I’m also thankful to the data.table community for their generosity in sharing knowledge and offering constructive feedback. Their guidance helped me refine my contributions and gain a deeper understanding of the project.

Lastly, I want to appreciate my fellow GSoC contributor, working alongside such talented peers made this journey even more meaningful and enjoyable.

Tags: pr contribution gsoc2025