I like the nt/INSTALL.W64 file but somehow I found Step-by-step instructions to build Emacs for Windows 64 bit with MSYS2 and MinGW-w64. Now `native-comp` supported. (github.com) more useful. I was wondering if we are allowed to add links to such gists / blogposts? (I understand that they can become obsolete at some point, but a section like useful references would be nice)

If you look at the gist, it gives a more detailed step-by-step approach around setting MYSYS
I am not 100% that the packages listed in nt/INSTALL.W64 are sufficient, on a fresh installation of MYSYS -> I will have to check if there are any gaps

My problem with patching:

I didn’t know how to consume @Robert Pluim’s change ☹ I had to read a blog post (Working with Git and patches in Emacs (ane.iki.fi)) on how git am works and that I can manually save the text from his change to a file and then use that file to apply changes to my Emacs branch…
What made it weird in the beginning was that I only had the information from #45821 - 28.0.50; Add UDP support for Emacs on Windows - GNU bug report logs and most of the apply patch examples refer to you having received an email with the patches as an attachment and then performing actions on it (in my case, I didn’t have any email)

For me, having a good walkthrough with examples is really useful and that’s why I am asking if we can include links to such blogposts:

I benefited from a walkthrough on MYSYS installation + emacs building
I benefited from a walkthrough on email patches

I am hoping others could find this useful too when they first take a look at building Emacs themselves.

Sent from Mail for Windows

> Cc: "45821@debbugs.gnu.org" <45821@debbugs.gnu.org>
> From: Alex Matei <matei.alexandru@live.com>
> Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2023 23:01:04 +0000
>
> * Can we make the documentation for developing for Emacs more discoverable? Maybe with a markdown
> / .org README?

Which development documentation did you find hard to discover? Please
be more specific.

> * Are we allowed to update the README with more up-to date information, on the series of MYSYS
> packages needed to be downloaded, and potentially with links to blog posts that describe the process in

That was already done a few days ago, please look at the latest Git
repository, in the nt/INSTALL.W64 file.

> * Can we add sections about creating/ applying patches to the README?

This stuff is in CONTRIBUTE.

> * I had a bit of work to discover how `git am` works , and the whole business of email patches, etc.

This is not specific to Emacs, so I don't think it's our job to teach
this. You can always ask on emacs-devel if you have problems
figuring this stuff out.

> * It would be great if all of this will be part of the original README

The purpose of README is different, and it's already quite large. We
describe this in CONTRIBUTE.

> * Where can I find more information about logging from C code?

Use the function 'message'.

> * Ideally I would like to compile Emacs with some new C functions, and then easily observe the behavior of
> these functions

I use the debugger when I need this. It is much more flexible and
dfoesn't require me to decide up front what exactly I want to log.