JIRA Plugin: Where to start

Question

I was asked to create a simple JIRA plugin that combines Workflow + Custom Fields + Conditional Steps

I just started installing JIRA and finally managed to create a run a simple Hello World Plugin.

I am already confused with how huge this interface is, and cannot seem to be able to grasp the big picture

Could any of you send me to the right direction? An idea on what could include all these?

Answer 1

Script Runner is easier to learn and it does exactly what you are asking for. A SR script can become also a JIRA plugin if you want to install it in other instances (SR plugin must be available). Learning Script Runner helps you to understand better how to develop JIRA plugins, in any case it's not time wasting because you can easily switch between native JIRA plugins and SR (SR uses JIRA components so the main logic is still the same, it just hides most of the annoying and repetitive stuff). You can start with this template:

https://bitbucket.org/jamieechlin/sr-scripts-plugin/overview

Answer 2

The Introduction to the Atlassian Plugin SDK is actually quite good.

The get your head around try to focus on the type(s) of plugin you want to have:

• customfield - calculated or not?
• workflow plugins - validators, conditions

Within each plugin, find out what information you need and then see where from the API you can get that information.

Answer 3

It might be a good idea to start with the scriptrunner plugin. This enables you to write custom groovy scripts for workflow conditions, validators, post-functions, listeners and many more.

The advantage is that the learning curve for simple groovy scripts is not as steep as for "real" plugins. That way you can accomodate with the jira api and then when you hit the point where you can't help yourself with groovy anymore switch over to normal plugin mechanics.