overhaul README

Author: dlqqq

README.md

@@ -12,62 +12,108 @@ for the frontend extension.
 
 - JupyterLab >= 4.0.0
 
-## Install
+## Installation
 
-To install the extension, execute:
+To install the extension, run:
 
 ```bash
 pip install jupyter_rtc_core
 ```
 
-## Uninstall
-
-To remove the extension, execute:
+To remove the extension, run:
 
 ```bash
 pip uninstall jupyter_rtc_core
 ```
 
-## Troubleshoot
+## Contributing
 
-If you are seeing the frontend extension, but it is not working, check
-that the server extension is enabled:
+### Setting up a development environment
 
-```bash
-jupyter server extension list
+We recommend using
+[Micromamba](https://mamba.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user_guide/micromamba.html)
+to create and manage a custom Python environment for developing this package.
+Micromamba provides most of the same CLI as Conda, but works much faster.
+
+First, set up a development environment by running this command from the root of
+this repository:
+
+```sh
+micromamba env create -f dev-environment.yml
 ```
 
-If the server extension is installed and enabled, but you are not seeing
-the frontend extension, check the frontend extension is installed:
+This creates a new Python environment named `rtccore` and automatically installs
+this extension's build dependencies, required for local development. Then,
+activate the environment:
 
-```bash
-jupyter labextension list
+```sh
+micromamba activate rtccore
 ```
 
-## Contributing
+Activating an environment is required to access any Python packages installed in
+that environment. You should activate the environment before developing any
+changes to the `jupyter_rtc_core` package locally.
 
-### Development install
 
-Note: You will need NodeJS to build the extension package.
+### Development install
 
-The `jlpm` command is JupyterLab's pinned version of
-[yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/) that is installed with JupyterLab. You may use
-`yarn` or `npm` in lieu of `jlpm` below.
+After ensuring that the `rtccore` environment is activated, you can install an
+editable copy of `jupyter_rtc_core` into your environment by running the script
+below.
 
 ```bash
-# Clone the repo to your local environment
-# Change directory to the jupyter_rtc_core directory
-# Install package in development mode
-pip install -e ".[test]"
-# Link your development version of the extension with JupyterLab
-jupyter labextension develop . --overwrite
-# Server extension must be manually installed in develop mode
-jupyter server extension enable jupyter_rtc_core
-# Rebuild extension Typescript source after making changes
-jlpm build
+jlpm dev:install
 ```
 
-You can watch the source directory and run JupyterLab at the same time in different terminals to watch for changes in the extension's source and automatically rebuild the extension.
+Notes about the development installation:
+
+- `jlpm` is JupyterLab's pinned version of [yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/) that is
+  installed with JupyterLab. In other words, `jlpm` can be considered an alias of
+  `yarn`.
+
+- `jlpm dev:install` runs the `dev:install` NPM script defined in `package.json`.
+
+- The `dev:install` step uses [`uv`](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) as a faster,
+  more modern replacement for `pip`.
+
+After completing this, you should have a working, editable copy of
+`jupyter_rtc_core` in your environment. Run `jupyter lab` and open JupyterLab in
+a browser to verify that `jupyter_rtc_core` is installed.
+
+### Development process
+
+When making new changes to your local copy of `jupyter_rtc_core`, different
+commands need to be run depending on the types of changes made. Without running
+these commands, the new changes are not reflected in JupyterLab.
+
+Here is a summary of the commands to run after making changes:
+
+- After updating `package.json` or `yarn.lock`: run `jlpm install` to install
+  the frontend dependencies.
+
+- After updating any frontend (TS/TSX/JS/CSS): run `jlpm build` to build the lab
+  extension (i.e. the frontend).
+
+- After updating any backend (Python) file: restart the server to reload the
+  server extension (i.e. the backend).
+
+  - Note that there is no build process when updating a Python file, since
+    Python is a scripting language.
+
+- After updating entry points or other package metadata in `pyproject.toml`: run
+  `jlpm dev:uninstall && jlpm dev:install` to re-do the development installation.
+  The package metadata is not updated automatically after local changes, even when
+  installing the package in editable mode.
+
+- Finally, refresh the JupyterLab page in the browser to load the new
+  frontend assets and use the new backend.
+
+
+### Building on change (frontend only)
+
+You can watch the source directory and run JupyterLab at the same time in
+different terminals to watch for changes in the extension's source and
+automatically rebuild the extension.
 
 ```bash
 # Watch the source directory in one terminal, automatically rebuilding when needed
@@ -76,25 +122,37 @@ jlpm watch
 jupyter lab
 ```
 
-With the watch command running, every saved change will immediately be built locally and available in your running JupyterLab. Refresh JupyterLab to load the change in your browser (you may need to wait several seconds for the extension to be rebuilt).
+With the watch command running, every saved change will immediately be built
+locally and available in your running JupyterLab. Refresh JupyterLab to load the
+change in your browser (you may need to wait several seconds for the extension
+to be rebuilt).
 
-By default, the `jlpm build` command generates the source maps for this extension to make it easier to debug using the browser dev tools. To also generate source maps for the JupyterLab core extensions, you can run the following command:
+By default, the `jlpm build` command generates the source maps for this
+extension to make it easier to debug using the browser dev tools. To also
+generate source maps for the JupyterLab core extensions, you can run the
+following command:
 
 ```bash
 jupyter lab build --minimize=False
 ```
 
+Note that the steps described here only update the application in response to
+changes to frontend (TypeScript) files. Changes to any backend (Python) files
+still require restarting the Jupyter Server.
+
 ### Development uninstall
 
+To undo the development installation, run this command:
+
 ```bash
-# Server extension must be manually disabled in develop mode
-jupyter server extension disable jupyter_rtc_core
-pip uninstall jupyter_rtc_core
+jlpm dev:uninstall
 ```
 
-In development mode, you will also need to remove the symlink created by `jupyter labextension develop`
-command. To find its location, you can run `jupyter labextension list` to figure out where the `labextensions`
-folder is located. Then you can remove the symlink named `@jupyter/rtc-core` within that folder.
+In development mode, you will also need to remove the symlink created by
+`jupyter labextension develop` command. To find its location, you can run
+`jupyter labextension list` to figure out where the `labextensions` folder is
+located. Then you can remove the symlink named `@jupyter/rtc-core` within that
+folder.
 
 ### Testing the extension
 
@@ -137,3 +195,19 @@ More information are provided within the [ui-tests](./ui-tests/README.md) README
 ### Packaging the extension
 
 See [RELEASE](RELEASE.md)
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+If you are seeing the frontend extension, but it is not working, check
+that the server extension is enabled:
+
+```bash
+jupyter server extension list
+```
+
+If the server extension is installed and enabled, but you are not seeing
+the frontend extension, check the frontend extension is installed:
+
+```bash
+jupyter labextension list
+```