With official and unofficial Android 4.4 KitKat roms appearing on a fair amount of devices in the Android world, both the new and the old, it's with no doubt that many of you are wondering when your device will get to experience the newest flavor of Android. Owners of newer devices likely have the assurance that their respective OEMs will introduce Android 4.4 sooner or later. But for many people, this isn't the case. With this in mind, people look towards the alternative: AOSP-based source-built aftermarket ROMs.

This is why the 'Porting AOSP Roms using source code' tutorial on XDA University is a great starting place, especially for beginners who are willing to learn the 'behind-the-scenes.' The tutorial lists all the necessary tools and pre-requisites such as a Github account and an Android development environment, and does a great job covering the steps of the porting process. From helping you navigate Github the very first time you visit the page, to cloning repositaries, to vendor trees, helpful screenshots and images accompany the steps, providing welcomed visual aid to the learning process.

Of course, if you do come across issues or have questions to ask, we encourage you to refer to the wealth of guides written by XDA forum members and made available to all on the XDA forums. If your issue is device-specific or you can't find a remedy, ask the community in the respective forums for the best chance of help.

If you would like to get started, head over to XDA University for the complete tutorial.