docs: add a guide for setting up the dev environment

This is for developers that would like to contribute to the project

README.md

@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ Using [lazy.nvim](https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim):
 >
 > For advanced configuration, it's recommended to have your Lua language server
 > set up so that you can type check your configuration and avoid errors.
+>
+> For help on how to do this, there is a section for Neovim development tools in
+> the [documentation](./documentation/for-developers/setting-up.md).
 
 You can optionally configure yazi.nvim by setting any of the options below.
 

documentation/for-developers/setting-up.md

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+# Setting up your development environment
+
+## Install dependencies
+
+- install luarocks, which is used to install dependencies for the tests:
+
+  ```sh
+  # for osx
+  brew install luarocks
+  ```
+
+- install [nlua](https://github.com/mfussenegger/nlua), the neovim lua
+  interpreter, which is used to run the tests.
+
+- install [GNU Make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/), which is used to run
+  the development commands that are defined in the Makefile.
+
+Next, install all the dependencies with the following command:
+
+```sh
+make
+```
+
+When successful, the output will greet you with a message similar to the
+following:
+
+```text
+Welcome to yazi.nvim development! 🚀
+Next, run one of these commands to get started:
+  make test
+    Run all tests
+  make test-focus
+    Run only the tests marked with #focus in the test name
+  make lint
+    Check the code for lint errors
+  make format
+    Reformat all code
+```
+
+## Neovim development tools
+
+Many of these are nicely available for [LazyVim](https://www.lazyvim.org/). Even
+if you don't use LazyVim, you can still refer to how they are set up if you're
+having trouble.
+
+- <https://github.com/folke/neoconf.nvim> which sets your lua LSP to use the
+  project settings
+- <https://github.com/folke/lazydev.nvim> which allows fast LSP startup
+- <https://github.com/folke/trouble.nvim> which shows errors and diagnostics
+- <https://github.com/stevearc/conform.nvim> which formats your code on save.
+  Configure it to use "stylua" using the instructions in its README file
+
+## Running tests
+
+### On the command line
+
+```sh
+# run all tests
+make test
+# run tests marked with #focus
+make test-focus
+```
+
+Recommended: use a file watcher to run tests automatically when files change. I
+like [watchexec 🦀](https://github.com/watchexec/watchexec), and I run it with
+`watchexec make test`
+
+### (optional) Install test integration plugins for Neovim
+
+See the "Tools" section of
+[nvim-best-practices](https://github.com/nvim-neorocks/nvim-best-practices/tree/main?tab=readme-ov-file#hammer_and_wrench-tools-3)
+for some ideas.
+
+## (optional) Install markdown related tooling
+
+Markdown (`.md`) is used in the documentation. Various checks are performed on
+all markdown files.
+
+Install everything with `npm`:
+
+- Install [Node Version Manager](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm), which is used
+  to choose the correct node version.
+
+```sh
+nvm use
+npm install
+```
+
+## Resources
+
+More information about the setup:
+
+- <https://github.com/nvim-neorocks/nvim-best-practices/tree/main?tab=readme-ov-file#test_tube-testing>