README: development setup

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 # Contributing
 
 We follow the [IPython Contributing Guide](https://github.com/ipython/ipython/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
+See the [README](https://github.com/jupyter/jupyter_core/blob/master/README.md) on how to set up a development environment.

README.md

@@ -5,3 +5,37 @@ Core common functionality of Jupyter projects.
 This package contains base application classes and configuration inherited by other projects.
 It doesn't do much on its own.
 
+
+# Development Setup
+
+The [Jupyter Contributor Guides](http://jupyter.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributor/content-contributor.html) provide extensive information on contributing code or documentation to Jupyter projects. The limited instructions below for setting up a development environment are for your convenience.
+
+## Coding
+
+You'll need Python and `pip` on the search path. Clone the Jupyter Core git repository to your computer, for example in `/my/projects/jupyter_core`.
+Now create an [editable install](https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/reference/pip_install/#editable-installs)
+and download the dependencies of code and test suite by executing:
+
+    cd /my/projects/jupyter_core/
+    pip install -e .
+    pip install -r dev-requirements.txt
+    py.test
+
+The last command runs the test suite to verify the setup. During development, you can pass filenames to `py.test`, and it will execute only those tests.
+
+## Documentation
+
+The documentation of Jupyter Core is generated from the files in `docs/` using Sphinx. Instructions for setting up Sphinx with a selection of optional modules are in the [Documentation Guide](http://jupyter.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contrib_docs/index.html). You'll also need the `make` command.
+For a minimal Sphinx installation to process the Jupyter Core docs, execute:
+
+    pip install sphinx
+
+The following commands build the documentation in HTML format and check for broken links:
+
+    cd /my/projects/jupyter_core/docs/
+    make html linkcheck
+
+Point your browser to the following URL to access the generated documentation:
+
+_file:///my/projects/jupyter\_core/docs/\_build/html/index.html_
+