Useful development tooling

This page lists some software we consider useful. Tool usage hints are provided at the FAQ page.

Working with GitHub

GitHub is a great platform to collaborate. It can be enhanced to be even more pleasant.

Browser plugins to enahnce GitHub

(strongly recommended) Refined GitHub - GitHub on steroids
(recommended) GitHub Issue Link Status - proper coloring of linked issues and PRs.
(optional) Codecov Browser Extension - displaying code coverage directly when browsing GitHub
(optional) Sourcegraph Browser Extension - Navigate through source on GitHub

Command line tooling

gh tool is GitHub’s CLI tool. The most important feature is to run gh checkout pr <number> to checkout another PR. This is useful for trying out other pull requests, which in turn favours community engagement.

Note: Running JabRef using gradle from the command line requires a JDK to be installed. One can also test without a JDK installed. See How to try any JabRef pull request.

Drawing diagrams

A free tool to make UI mockups: https://draw.io with Software -> Mockups shapes.

Inside the Markdown files, Mermaid can be used. This is “diagrams as code”, please get familiar with that concept.

Screenshots

We recommend Flameshot and Greenshot to enable proper annotation of screenshots. GitHub allows direct paste of images from the clipboard. Thus, copy the annotated image and paste it directly in your PR description.

Tooling for Linux

In case you use bash as your shell, we recommend installing Oh My Bash to make the experience even more awesome.

Tooling for Windows

Better console applications: Windows Terminal plus clink

Install Windows Terminal
Install clink, to have Unix keys (Alt+B, Ctrl+S, etc.) also available at the prompt of cmd.exe
Install Oh My Posh for a better PowerShell.

Tools for working with XMP

Validate XMP: https://www.pdflib.com/pdf-knowledge-base/xmp/free-xmp-validator