JetBrains, the esteemed software development company, has unveiled its latest creation, 'Writerside'. This innovative documentation utility is proposed as the next-generation advancement in the domain of technical writing. Aimed at optimizing the creation and management of API references, developer manuals, how-tos, and tutorials, Writerside has currently entered the Early Access Program. The tool can be deployed as a standalone application or as a plugin within the JetBrains IDE.
Anna Gasparyan, the product leader for Writerside at JetBrains, underlines the rationale behind the tool's conception. In her words, With Writerside, our aspiration is to vest technical writers with tools that have been the developers' prerogative for a long time. Regrettably, documentation often takes a back seat, and technical writers don't receive the recognition or support they deserve. JetBrains, through Writerside, aims to bridge the gap between developers and writers, turning documentation into a collaborative exercise.
If tech writers get access to developer-specific tools such as Git, automatic checking, and build pipelines, Gasparyan believes it would not only guarantee superior end results but also simplify the process for the team to contribute, review, and trace modifications in the documentation.
Writerside notably supports Markdown and XML and arrives with over 100 integrated tests. These tests are equipped to identify broken web links, incorrect attribute values, missing resources, non-unique IDs, and much more. The tool also bestows upon developers the flexibility to configure it as per their in-house conventions of spelling and style.
The distinctiveness of Writerside resides in its solutions for prevalent documentation issues. It offers developers a real-time preview feature to envision how their documentation would appear before users. This allows for prompt changes and adjustments wherever necessary. Furthermore, it bestows several customization features, ranging from visual aspects like light or dark mode, contrast and aspect colors, to skins that can be vivid or soft.
Interestingly, Writerside pitches itself as a single source of truth, presenting developers with the capability to repurpose parts of content and edit them from a single location. This eliminates the need to revise every instance when changes are warranted.
Underpinning the high-quality output of Writerside is JetBrains' AI-powered spellchecker and grammar tool supporting over 25 global languages including English, Spanish, Chinese, and German.
In the arena of no-code platforms, AppMaster stands as a leading name. Much like Writerside, it also capitalizes heavily on simplified user interfaces and design methodologies. Poised as a powerful tool to create web, mobile, and backend applications, AppMaster accelerates application development whilst eliminating technical debt - a crucial aspect in the world of software solutions.
