302 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
302 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
---
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comments: false
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type: index, dev
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stage: none
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group: Development
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info: "See the Technical Writers assigned to Development Guidelines: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines"
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description: "Development Guidelines: learn how to contribute to GitLab."
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---
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# Contributor and Development Docs
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Learn the processes and technical information needed for contributing to GitLab.
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This content is intended for members of the GitLab Team as well as community
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contributors. Content specific to the GitLab Team should instead be included in
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the [Handbook](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/).
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For information on using GitLab to work on your own software projects, see the
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[GitLab user documentation](../user/index.md).
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For information on working with the GitLab APIs, see the [API documentation](../api/README.md).
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For information about how to install, configure, update, and upgrade your own
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GitLab instance, see the [administration documentation](../administration/index.md).
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## Get started
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- Set up the GitLab development environment with the
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[GitLab Development Kit (GDK)](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/-/blob/master/README.md)
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- [GitLab contributing guide](contributing/index.md)
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- [Issues workflow](contributing/issue_workflow.md) for more information about:
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- Issue tracker guidelines.
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- Triaging.
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- Labels.
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- Feature proposals.
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- Issue weight.
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- Regression issues.
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- Technical or UX debt.
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- [Merge requests workflow](contributing/merge_request_workflow.md) for more
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information about:
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- Merge request guidelines.
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- Contribution acceptance criteria.
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- Definition of done.
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- Dependencies.
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- [Style guides](contributing/style_guides.md)
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- [Implement design & UI elements](contributing/design.md)
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- [GitLab Architecture Overview](architecture.md)
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- [Rake tasks](rake_tasks.md) for development
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## Processes
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**Must-reads:**
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- [Guide on adapting existing and introducing new components](architecture.md#adapting-existing-and-introducing-new-components)
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- [Code review guidelines](code_review.md) for reviewing code and having code
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reviewed
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- [Database review guidelines](database_review.md) for reviewing
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database-related changes and complex SQL queries, and having them reviewed
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- [Secure coding guidelines](secure_coding_guidelines.md)
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- [Pipelines for the GitLab project](pipelines.md)
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Complementary reads:
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- [GitLab core team & GitLab Inc. contribution process](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/master/PROCESS.md)
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- [Security process for developers](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/release/docs/blob/master/general/security/developer.md#security-releases-critical-non-critical-as-a-developer)
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- [Guidelines for implementing Enterprise Edition features](ee_features.md)
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- [Danger bot](dangerbot.md)
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- [Generate a changelog entry with `bin/changelog`](changelog.md)
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- [Requesting access to ChatOps on GitLab.com](chatops_on_gitlabcom.md#requesting-access) (for GitLab team members)
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- [Patch release process for developers](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/release/docs/blob/master/general/patch/process.md#process-for-developers)
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- [Adding a new service component to GitLab](adding_service_component.md)
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### Development guidelines review
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When you submit a change to the GitLab development guidelines, who
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you ask for reviews depends on the level of change.
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#### Wording, style, or link changes
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Not all changes require extensive review. For example, MRs that don't change the
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content's meaning or function can be reviewed, approved, and merged by any
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maintainer or Technical Writer. These can include:
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- Typo fixes.
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- Clarifying links, such as to external programming language documentation.
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- Changes to comply with the [Documentation Style Guide](documentation/index.md)
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that don't change the intent of the documentation page.
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#### Specific changes
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If the MR proposes changes that are limited to a particular stage, group, or team,
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request a review and approval from an experienced GitLab Team Member in that
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group. For example, if you're documenting a new internal API used exclusively by
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a given group, request an engineering review from one of the group's members.
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After the engineering review is complete, assign the MR to the
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[Technical Writer associated with the stage and group](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments)
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in the modified documentation page's metadata.
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If you have questions or need further input, request a review from the
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Technical Writer assigned to the [Development Guidelines](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines).
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#### Broader changes
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Some changes affect more than one group. For example:
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- Changes to [code review guidelines](code_review.md).
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- Changes to [commit message guidelines](contributing/merge_request_workflow.md#commit-messages-guidelines).
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- Changes to guidelines in [feature flags in development of GitLab](feature_flags/).
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- Changes to [feature flags documentation guidelines](documentation/feature_flags.md).
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In these cases, use the following workflow:
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1. Request a peer review from a member of your team.
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1. Request a review and approval of an Engineering Manager (EM)
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or Staff Engineer who's responsible for the area in question:
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- [Frontend](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/frontend/)
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- [Backend](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/)
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- [Database](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/development/database/)
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- [User Experience (UX)](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/)
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- [Security](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/security/)
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- [Quality](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/quality/)
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- [Infrastructure](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/infrastructure/)
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- [Technical Writing](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/)
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You can skip this step for MRs authored by EMs or Staff Engineers responsible
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for their area.
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If there are several affected groups, you may need approvals at the
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EM/Staff Engineer level from each affected area.
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1. After completing the reviews, consult with the EM/Staff Engineer
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author / approver of the MR.
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If this is a significant change across multiple areas, request final review
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and approval from the VP of Development, the DRI for Development Guidelines,
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@clefelhocz1.
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1. After all approvals are complete, assign the merge request to the
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Technical Writer for [Development Guidelines](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments-to-development-guidelines)
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for final content review and merge. The Technical Writer may ask for
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additional approvals as previously suggested before merging the MR.
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## UX and Frontend guides
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- [GitLab Design System](https://design.gitlab.com/), for building GitLab with
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existing CSS styles and elements
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- [Frontend guidelines](fe_guide/index.md)
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- [Emoji guide](fe_guide/emojis.md)
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## Backend guides
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- [Directory structure](directory_structure.md)
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- [GitLab utilities](utilities.md)
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- [Issuable-like Rails models](issuable-like-models.md)
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- [Logging](logging.md)
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- [API style guide](api_styleguide.md) for contributing to the API
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- [GraphQL API style guide](api_graphql_styleguide.md) for contributing to the
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[GraphQL API](../api/graphql/index.md)
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- [Sidekiq guidelines](sidekiq_style_guide.md) for working with Sidekiq workers
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- [Working with Gitaly](gitaly.md)
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- [Manage feature flags](feature_flags/index.md)
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- [Licensed feature availability](licensed_feature_availability.md)
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- [Dealing with email/mailers](emails.md)
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- [Shell commands](shell_commands.md) in the GitLab codebase
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- [`Gemfile` guidelines](gemfile.md)
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- [Pry debugging](pry_debugging.md)
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- [Sidekiq debugging](../administration/troubleshooting/sidekiq.md)
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- [Accessing session data](session.md)
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- [Gotchas](gotchas.md) to avoid
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- [Avoid modules with instance variables](module_with_instance_variables.md), if
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possible
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- [How to dump production data to staging](db_dump.md)
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- [Working with the GitHub importer](github_importer.md)
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- [Import/Export development documentation](import_export.md)
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- [Test Import Project](import_project.md)
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- [Elasticsearch integration docs](elasticsearch.md)
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- [Working with Merge Request diffs](diffs.md)
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- [Kubernetes integration guidelines](kubernetes.md)
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- [Permissions](permissions.md)
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- [Guidelines for reusing abstractions](reusing_abstractions.md)
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- [DeclarativePolicy framework](policies.md)
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- [How Git object deduplication works in GitLab](git_object_deduplication.md)
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- [Geo development](geo.md)
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- [Routing](routing.md)
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- [Repository mirroring](repository_mirroring.md)
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- [Git LFS](lfs.md)
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- [Developing against interacting components or features](interacting_components.md)
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- [File uploads](uploads.md)
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- [Auto DevOps development guide](auto_devops.md)
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- [Mass Inserting Models](mass_insert.md)
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- [Value Stream Analytics development guide](value_stream_analytics.md)
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- [Issue types vs first-class types](issue_types.md)
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- [Application limits](application_limits.md)
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- [Redis guidelines](redis.md)
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- [Rails initializers](rails_initializers.md)
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- [Code comments](code_comments.md)
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- [Renaming features](renaming_features.md)
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- [Windows Development on GCP](windows.md)
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- [Code Intelligence](code_intelligence/index.md)
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- [Approval Rules](approval_rules.md)
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- [Feature categorization](feature_categorization/index.md)
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- [Wikis development guide](wikis.md)
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- [Newlines style guide](newlines_styleguide.md)
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- [Image scaling guide](image_scaling.md)
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- [Export to CSV](export_csv.md)
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## Performance guides
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- [Instrumentation](instrumentation.md) for Ruby code running in production
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environments.
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- [Performance guidelines](performance.md) for writing code, benchmarks, and
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certain patterns to avoid.
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- [Merge request performance guidelines](merge_request_performance_guidelines.md)
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for ensuring merge requests do not negatively impact GitLab performance
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- [Profiling](profiling.md) a URL, measuring performance using Sherlock, or
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tracking down N+1 queries using Bullet.
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- [Cached queries guidelines](cached_queries.md), for tracking down N+1 queries
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masked by query caching, memory profiling and why should we avoid cached
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queries.
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## Database guides
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See [database guidelines](database/index.md).
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## Integration guides
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- [Jira Connect app](integrations/jira_connect.md)
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- [Security Scanners](integrations/secure.md)
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- [Secure Partner Integration](integrations/secure_partner_integration.md)
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- [How to run Jenkins in development environment](integrations/jenkins.md)
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- [How to run local `Codesandbox` integration for Web IDE Live Preview](integrations/codesandbox.md)
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## Testing guides
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- [Testing standards and style guidelines](testing_guide/index.md)
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- [Frontend testing standards and style guidelines](testing_guide/frontend_testing.md)
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## Refactoring guides
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- [Refactoring guidelines](refactoring_guide/index.md)
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## Deprecation guides
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- [Deprecation guidelines](deprecation_guidelines/index.md)
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## Documentation guides
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- [Writing documentation](documentation/index.md)
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- [Documentation style guide](documentation/styleguide/index.md)
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- [Markdown](../user/markdown.md)
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## Internationalization (i18n) guides
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- [Introduction](i18n/index.md)
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- [Externalization](i18n/externalization.md)
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- [Translation](i18n/translation.md)
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## Product Intelligence guides
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- [Product Intelligence guide](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/product-intelligence-guide/)
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- [Usage Ping guide](usage_ping.md)
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- [Snowplow guide](snowplow.md)
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## Experiment guide
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- [Introduction](experiment_guide/index.md)
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## Build guides
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- [Building a package for testing purposes](build_test_package.md)
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## Compliance
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- [Licensing](licensing.md) for ensuring license compliance
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## Go guides
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- [Go Guidelines](go_guide/index.md)
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## Shell Scripting guides
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- [Shell scripting standards and style guidelines](shell_scripting_guide/index.md)
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## Domain-specific guides
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- [CI/CD development documentation](cicd/index.md)
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## Other Development guides
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- [Defining relations between files using projections](projections.md)
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- [Reference processing](reference_processing.md)
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- [Compatibility with multiple versions of the application running at the same time](multi_version_compatibility.md)
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- [Features inside `.gitlab/`](features_inside_dot_gitlab.md)
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- [Dashboards for stage groups](stage_group_dashboards.md)
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## Other GitLab Development Kit (GDK) guides
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- [Run full Auto DevOps cycle in a GDK instance](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/blob/master/doc/howto/auto_devops.md)
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- [Using GitLab Runner with the GDK](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/blob/master/doc/howto/runner.md)
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- [Using the Web IDE terminal with the GDK](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/-/blob/master/doc/howto/web_ide_terminal_gdk_setup.md)
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