JetBrains is hoping to enhance the way in which technical documentation is created with a brand new software referred to as Writerside.
Presently in an Early Entry Program, Writerside is a platform for writing and collaborating on documentation, API references, tutorials, developer guides, and how-tos. It may be used as a plugin within the JetBrains IDE or as a standalone software.
“With Writerside, we need to empower writers with the instruments that builders have lengthy been utilizing. Sadly, documentation continues to be usually missed, and technical writers don’t get the acknowledgement or the help they deserve”, mentioned Anna Gasparyan, product lead for Writerside at JetBrains. “Our mission is to bridge the hole between builders and writers and make documentation a group sport. If tech writers use the identical instruments as builders, reminiscent of Git, automated test, and construct pipelines, it not solely ensures the standard of the ultimate output, but it surely also needs to make it simpler for all the group to contribute to docs, assessment them, and observe modifications.”
It helps Markdown and XML, and comes with over 100 built-in exams. These embody testing for damaged hyperlinks, lacking sources, incorrect attribute values, non-unique IDs, and extra. Builders can even configure it to test for his or her in-house spelling and elegance conventions.
Writeside provides builders a dwell preview of what their documentation will appear to be to customers. It additionally contains customization choices for look, reminiscent of gentle or darkish mode, distinction, tender or vivid skins, and defining accent colours.
One other key function to notice is that it maintains a single supply of fact for tasks, enabling builders to reuse parts of content material and edit them from only one place reasonably than having to replace each occasion when modifications are made.
It makes use of JetBrains’ spellchecker and grammar software, which makes use of AI to make its corrections. Presently this software helps over 25 languages, embody English, German, Spanish, and Chinese language.