Why is developing plugins for Jira/Confluence such a pain in the arse?Close to impossible

[overnight dev]

There is ZERO updated documentation. All the code found on Bitbucket doesn't work. One cannot find any working piece of code on atlassian. Everything you compile gives you a new error. You solve an error, get a new error...I think everyone knows what i'm talking about. 

Why are you guys making it so complicated? 

[Alain Moran · Accepted solution]

Use the source Luke!

If you don't (yet) have access to the application source code, then buy yourself a $10 license - you can then download the source code of the application you're working with and use it as example code.

The docs will always lag behind the source, seasoned Atlassian plugin developers will generally turn to the source as a first point of call when trying to work out how to do something.

[Ahmad]

I was pulling my hair out!  Seriously, I was trying to learn it but the tutorials don't work for JIRA 7.x.  How do they not update these tutorials?  

I've been waiting for @Jobin Kuruvilla book to become available ("JIRA 7 Development Cookbook - Third Edition"). Currently, the release schedule is next week Sept. 27 (which the publisher has pushed back 2 weeks already which is pissing me off... not Jobin's fault). You can find the book on Amazon.com (JIRA 7 Development Cookbook - Third Edition).  

Hope this helps.  

[Jobin Kuruvilla [Adaptavist]]

Honestly, it is partially my fault because I hadn't been signing off/approving the edited chapters. Believe me, I am equally frustrated that it is taking too long to get the styling, indentation etc correct but I hope it is worth it because "code" and "step by step instructions" are so hard to read without proper styling and indentation. The publisher is doing their best but it is a big book (over 500 pages!).

For what it is worth, the final versions are in my inbox and I am already reviewing them. I can't promise it but we are shooting to meet the 27th date. Please bare with us. Would have been so much easier to blame it on publisher alone but a book is the sum of all efforts

[Ahmad]

Thanks Jobin!

[joachimbollen]

For most tutorials, I think that most of it will work ok, if you first read up on the Spring Scanner, and adapt accordingly. But if you're new, it can really be a PITA  

Looking at the atlassian-plugin.xml files of other plugins, and the source code of the applications also do really help.

[Mel Paisley]

Hey, 

Thanks for the feedback.  We're aware that the Tutorials haven't been updated in a while and they're outdated for many of our newer releases.  

I'm working on releasing an updated getting started tutorial now but it still needs some testing so if you'd like to preview it before I release it to the public then I can probably work with you to get up and running at the same time (if that's where you're stuck). If you'd like that you can hop over to this survey and sign up https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z8W8K3Z.

If you're up to a more advanced tutorial then you can leave feedback at the bottom of each of the tutorials so that we know it needs review.  

And of course if you're running into a bug you can raise feedback in the AMPS or Atlassian Plugin SDK projects. 

Thanks for your patience. 

Cheers,
Melissa 

[Volodymyr Krupach]

For now JIRA/Confluence sources are the only proven substitution of documentation. If you develop something more than trivial "hello world" (yes, I know that hello word tutorial does not work too...) addon you have to look through sources.