Various minor updates to documentation (#1349)

* Whitespace fixes in CHANGELOG.md

* Add missing release dates in changelog

* Add unreleased version changelog entry

* Add .ackrc file to avoid searching generated output files

Ack is an intelligent, recursive grep tool.
http://beyondgrep.com/

* Update CONTRIBUTING.md with dev branch info

* Whitespace fixes in README.md

* Update node.js and npm requirement

To the currently oldest sensible version, it is possible that the actual
requirement is higher

Author: hlovdal

.ackrc

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+--ignore-dir=out
+--ignore-dir=.vscode-test

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,24 +1,36 @@
 # Change Log
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
+## Version ...the next release...
+
+- Release date: ...
+
 ## Version 0.4.4
 
+- Release date: August 26, 2021
+
 ### Changed
 - Serial monitor uses a new backend which doesn't break with updates of VSCode. [#1322](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/1322)
 
 ## Version 0.4.3
 
+- Release date: May 12, 2021
+
 ### Fixed
 - Update node-usb-native to v0.0.20 to fix serial and port selecting [#1257](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-arduino/issues/1257)
 - Updated dependencies
 
 ## Version 0.4.2
 
+- Release date: April 22, 2021
+
 ### Fixed
 - Update app insights key
 
 ## Version 0.4.1
 
+- Release date: April 19, 2021
+
 ### Added
 - Quickpick sketch selection [#1128](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/1128) Thanks [@maddogjt](https://github.com/maddogjt)
 
@@ -31,6 +43,8 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ## Version 0.4.0
 
+- Release date: March 22. 2021
+
 ### Added
 - Support for Arduino CLI #1017
 
@@ -358,19 +372,19 @@ Special thanks to [GarethE](https://github.com/keyoke), thank you for your contr
 
 - Release date: August 24, 2017
 
-### Added 
+### Added
 - Add settings for enabled/disable USB detection
 - Add Arduino Example tree explorer viewlet
 - Contribution from [DeqingSun](https://github.com/DeqingSun): Support multiple versions of Arduino on Mac [#375](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/375)
 - Contribution from [DeqingSun](https://github.com/DeqingSun): Add board support for STM32F1 with Arudino_STM32 [#377](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/377)
 
-### Changed 
+### Changed
 - Leverage the output path config to speedup upload/verify
 - Fix USB detection issue during uploading [#371](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/371), [372](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/372)
 - Contribution from [lialosiu](https://github.com/lialosiu): Fix encoding issue for non UTF-8 [#364](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/364)
-- Update the documents with the helps of 
+- Update the documents with the helps of
     - [eduherminio](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/361)
-    - [Atalanttore](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/381), 
+    - [Atalanttore](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-arduino/pull/381),
 
 ## Version 0.2.4
 
@@ -445,7 +459,9 @@ Special thanks to [GarethE](https://github.com/keyoke), thank you for your contr
 
 ## Version 0.1.1
 
-- HotFix: Update display tag. 
+- Release date: April 14, 2017
+
+- HotFix: Update display tag.
 
 ## Version 0.1.0
 

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ There are many ways that you can contribute, beyond writing code. The goal of th
 
 If you are interested in writing code to fix issues, first look at the issues with the [help-wanted](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-arduino/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22help+wanted%22) label. They should have the context and code pointers needed to get started. If not, then feel free to ask for some, and we will be happy to provide any guidance you need.
 
-When you are doing code fix, please work against [develop](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-arduino/tree/develop) branch and also submit pull request to develop branch. Changes will be merged into master branch after production release.
+When you are doing code fix, please work against [dev](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-arduino/tree/dev)
+branch and also submit pull request to `dev` branch.
+Changes will be merged into `master` branch after production release.
 
 
 

README.md

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ The Arduino IDE can be installed the Arduino [download page](https://www.arduino
 ### Arduino CLI
 The Arduino CLI can be downloaded from the repository's [release page](https://github.com/arduino/arduino-cli/releases/tag/0.13.0)
 - The extension has only been tested with v0.13.0.
-- If you use the CLI you will have to set `arduino.path` since the CLI does not have a default path. 
+- If you use the CLI you will have to set `arduino.path` since the CLI does not have a default path.
 
 ## Installation
 Open VS Code and press <kbd>F1</kbd> or <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>P</kbd> to open command palette, select **Install Extension** and type `vscode-arduino`.
@@ -138,14 +138,14 @@ The following settings are as per sketch settings of the Arduino extension. You
 
 ## Pre- and Post-Build Commands
 On Windows the commands run within a `cmd`-, on Linux and OSX within a `bash`-instance. Therefore your command can be anything what you can run within those shells. Instead of running a command you can invoke a script. This makes writing more complex pre-/post-build mechanisms much easier and opens up the possibility to run python or other scripting languages.
-The commands run within the workspace root directory and vscode-arduino sets the following environment variables:  
-**`VSCA_BUILD_MODE`** The current build mode, one of `Verifying`, `Uploading`, `Uploading (programmer)` or `Analyzing`. This allows you to run your script on certain build modes only.  
-**`VSCA_SKETCH`** The sketch file relative to your workspace root directory.  
-**`VSCA_BOARD`** Your board and configuration, e.g. `arduino:avr:nano:cpu=atmega328`.  
-**`VSCA_WORKSPACE_DIR`** The absolute path of your workspace root directory.  
-**`VSCA_LOG_LEVEL`** The current log level. This allows you to control the verbosity of your scripts.  
-**`VSCA_SERIAL`** The serial port used for uploading. Not set if you haven't set one in your `arduino.json`.  
-**`VSCA_BUILD_DIR`** The build directory. Not set if you haven't set one in your `arduino.json`.  
+The commands run within the workspace root directory and vscode-arduino sets the following environment variables:
+**`VSCA_BUILD_MODE`** The current build mode, one of `Verifying`, `Uploading`, `Uploading (programmer)` or `Analyzing`. This allows you to run your script on certain build modes only.
+**`VSCA_SKETCH`** The sketch file relative to your workspace root directory.
+**`VSCA_BOARD`** Your board and configuration, e.g. `arduino:avr:nano:cpu=atmega328`.
+**`VSCA_WORKSPACE_DIR`** The absolute path of your workspace root directory.
+**`VSCA_LOG_LEVEL`** The current log level. This allows you to control the verbosity of your scripts.
+**`VSCA_SERIAL`** The serial port used for uploading. Not set if you haven't set one in your `arduino.json`.
+**`VSCA_BUILD_DIR`** The build directory. Not set if you haven't set one in your `arduino.json`.
 
 For example under Windows the following `arduino.json` setup
 ```json
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ will produce
 ```
 [Starting] Verifying sketch 'test.ino'
 Running pre-build command: "IF "%VSCA_BUILD_MODE%"=="Verifying" (echo VSCA_BUILD_MODE=%VSCA_BUILD_MODE% && echo VSCA_BOARD=%VSCA_BOARD%)"
-VSCA_BUILD_MODE=Verifying 
+VSCA_BUILD_MODE=Verifying
 VSCA_BOARD=arduino:avr:nano:cpu=atmega328
 Loading configuration...
 <...>
@@ -221,8 +221,8 @@ You can find the full list of issues on the [Issue Tracker](https://github.com/M
 Installation prerequisites:
 
 - [Git](https://git-scm.com/)
-- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) (>= 6.5.0)
-- [Npm](https://www.npmjs.com/) (>= 3.10.3)
+- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) (>= 12.x)
+- [Npm](https://www.npmjs.com/) (>= 6.x)
 
 To *run and develop*, do the following:
 - `git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-arduino`