Getting Started with GitLab Development Kit

What this post added

This post introduces the GitLab Development Kit (GDK) as a tool to simplify the setup of a local development environment for contributing to GitLab. It details the installation of prerequisites, cloning the GDK repository, forking necessary GitLab components (CE, EE, Shell, Workhorse), configuring GDK with these forks, starting the development environment, making code changes, running tests (RSpec, Spinach), and opening merge requests. It highlights the multi-component nature of GitLab (database, Redis, Sidekiq, Rails, Workhorse, Shell) and how GDK manages them.