C# – Most Active Open Source C# Projects

In addition to C++, you should study the libraries, APIs and frameworks used in the individual projects. For example, if you're planning to help develop a 2D game that uses SDL, you will need to learn SDL.

The Berne Copyright Convention specifies that copyright descends on a creative work the instant it is created. You don't need to do anything special to copyright your work. That wasn't always the case - back in the day, one needed to register copyrights, and renew them periodically, but that's not the case anymore.

You SHOULD place a copyright notice in each of your source files, as well as the About or Credits box of your binary. Note that you will still own the copyright of your work even if you don't include a copyright notice, but having it there prevents trouble in the event of a dispute.

The various open source licenses have different requirements for applying them to your code. The BSD and MIT licenses must be pasted verbatim into each source file.

The GPL is generally provided separately in a file called COPYING or COPYING.txt, with a notice in each file stating that it is licensed under the GPL, and that the license itself is in the file COPYING or COPYING.txt. Detailed instructions for applying the GPL are found at the end of the GPL license text itself. If you use the GPL, follow its instructions, not what I posted here.