JetBrains is hoping to enhance the best way technical documentation is created with a brand new device 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 device.
“With Writerside, we wish to empower writers with the instruments that builders have lengthy been utilizing. Sadly, documentation continues to be typically ignored, and technical writers don’t get the acknowledgement or the help they deserve”, stated Anna Gasparyan, product lead for Writerside at JetBrains. “Our mission is to bridge the hole between builders and writers and make documentation a workforce sport. If tech writers use the identical instruments as builders, corresponding to Git, automated test, and construct pipelines, it not solely ensures the standard of the ultimate output, but it surely must also make it simpler for your entire workforce to contribute to docs, assessment them, and monitor modifications.”
It helps Markdown and XML, and comes with over 100 built-in exams. These embody testing for damaged hyperlinks, lacking assets, incorrect attribute values, non-unique IDs, and extra. Builders can even configure it to test for his or her in-house spelling and magnificence conventions.
Writeside affords builders a dwell preview of what their documentation will appear to be to customers. It additionally contains customization choices for look, corresponding to mild or darkish mode, distinction, comfortable or vivid skins, and defining accent colours.
One other key characteristic to notice is that it maintains a single supply of fact for initiatives, enabling builders to reuse parts of content material and edit them from only one place quite than having to replace each occasion when modifications are made.
It makes use of JetBrains’ spellchecker and grammar device, which makes use of AI to make its corrections. Presently this device helps over 25 languages, embody English, German, Spanish, and Chinese language.