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developer-experience.md

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Developer Experience (DX) Guidelines

Introduction

Developer Experience (DX) refers to the overall experience developers have when working with tools, platforms, APIs, and environments. A good developer experience increases productivity, reduces frustration, and leads to higher quality code.

Principles

  1. Simplicity First: Tools and processes should be as simple as possible to accomplish their purpose
  2. Minimize Friction: Reduce barriers to productive work
  3. Fast Feedback Loops: Developers should receive rapid feedback on their work
  4. Self-Service: Empower developers to solve problems without waiting for others
  5. Automation: Automate repetitive tasks whenever possible

Workstation Setup

Standard Development Environment

  • Maintain up-to-date setup scripts for all major operating systems
  • Document environment requirements clearly
  • Use containerized development environments when appropriate
  • Provide virtual machines for specialized development needs

IDE Configuration

  • Maintain standard configurations for popular IDEs
  • Share useful extensions and plugins
  • Provide project-specific editor configs and settings
  • Standardize formatter and linter configurations

CLI Tools

Command Line Experience

  • Create consistent, intuitive command line interfaces
  • Implement thorough help documentation for all CLI tools
  • Ensure detailed, actionable error messages
  • Implement progress indicators for long-running processes

Custom Scripts and Tools

  • Document all custom scripts and tools thoroughly
  • Include examples and use cases in script documentation
  • Maintain versioning for internal tools
  • Implement graceful error handling and logging

Local Development

Local Setup

  • Provide one-command setup for local development environments
  • Ensure parity between local and production environments
  • Document any necessary manual configuration steps clearly
  • Implement health checks for local development environments

Hot Reloading

  • Implement hot reloading for all applicable technologies
  • Minimize rebuild/restart times
  • Maintain watch modes for all development servers
  • Optimize compilation and bundling for development speed

Documentation

Code-Proximate Documentation

  • Place documentation as close to the code as possible
  • Maintain up-to-date READMEs for all projects and significant components
  • Document API endpoints with examples
  • Include diagrams for complex systems or workflows

Searchable Knowledge Base

  • Maintain a central, searchable repository of knowledge
  • Tag and categorize documentation for easy discoverability
  • Include troubleshooting guides for common issues
  • Document frequently asked questions and their answers

Testing Experience

Test Environment

  • Provide streamlined setup for test environments
  • Ensure tests can be run with a single command
  • Support running subsets of tests for faster feedback
  • Implement visual testing tools where applicable

Test Output

  • Ensure clear, actionable test failure messages
  • Provide visual differentiation between types of test failures
  • Include context and debugging information in test output
  • Support test reporting in multiple formats

Feedback Systems

Error Reporting

  • Implement comprehensive error tracking
  • Ensure developers receive notifications of errors in their code
  • Provide context and stack traces for all errors
  • Link errors to relevant documentation

Performance Monitoring

  • Make performance metrics accessible to developers
  • Implement performance budgets with automated checking
  • Notify developers of performance regressions
  • Provide tools for performance profiling in development

Continuous Integration

Build Feedback

  • Ensure fast CI builds for rapid feedback
  • Implement detailed build logs
  • Notify developers of build failures immediately
  • Prioritize test stability in CI environments

Pull Request Experience

  • Implement automated code review tools
  • Provide comprehensive PR templates
  • Automate as many checks as possible
  • Ensure clear documentation of PR process

API Experience

API Design

  • Create consistent, intuitive API interfaces
  • Provide comprehensive API documentation with examples
  • Implement clear error messages and status codes
  • Support versioning and backwards compatibility

API Testing Tools

  • Provide tools for testing APIs locally
  • Maintain up-to-date Postman collections or similar
  • Support mocking of external APIs for development
  • Implement API health checks and monitoring

Measurement and Improvement

DX Metrics

  • Track time spent on environment setup
  • Measure build and test times
  • Survey developers regularly about pain points
  • Monitor usage of development tools and resources

Continuous Improvement

  • Dedicate time to addressing developer experience issues
  • Maintain a backlog of DX improvements
  • Regularly review and update development tools
  • Create a feedback channel for DX issues

Resources