diff --git a/DEVELOPMENT.md b/DEVELOPMENT.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d8026a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/DEVELOPMENT.md
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Development Guidelines
+
+## Environment Setup
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- Python 3.10+
+- Docker
+- Make
+
+### Installation
+
+Create a virtual environment and install dependencies:
+
+```bash
+make venv
+make setup
+```
+
+This will install the project in editable mode, install dev tools, and set up git hooks.
+
+## Workflow
+
+### Dependency Management
+
+- **Lock dependencies**: Generates `requirements.txt` from `pyproject.toml`.
+  ```bash
+  make lock
+  ```
+- **Upgrade dependencies**: Updates packages to latest allowed versions.
+  ```bash
+  make upgrade
+  ```
+- **Verify compatibility of dependencies**: Checks each of the dependencies for python version compatibility, and marks dependencies that are not compatible with the given target version.
+  ```bash
+  # adjust py_version=3.xy as needed
+  make compatibility py_version=3.10
+  ```
+- **Update SBOM**: Generate a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) in `sbom.json` when dependencies are updated (tracked).
+  ```bash
+  make sbom
+  ```
+- **Audit dependencies**: Generates a security audit report in `audit.json` when dependencies are updated and review it (untracked).
+  ```bash
+  make audit
+  ```
+
+### Quality Assurance
+
+- **Linting**: `make lint`
+- **Formatting**: `make format`
+- **Testing**: `make test`
+- **Security Scan**: `make security`
+
+## Branch Naming Convention
+
+- `feature/`: For new features or functionality (e.g., `feature/add-login-page`).
+- `fix/` or `bugfix/`: For fixing issues or bugs (e.g., `fix/header-formatting-issue`).
+- `hotfix/`: For urgent, critical fixes in production (e.g., `hotfix/fix-db-connection-bug`).
+- `release/`: For preparing new production releases (e.g., `release/v1.0.0` or `release/1.0.0`).
+- `docs/`: For updating documentation.
+- `chore/`: For maintenance tasks, dependency updates, or build improvements.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/check_compatibility.py b/check_compatibility.py
index 3804561..dcc1687 100644
--- a/check_compatibility.py
+++ b/check_compatibility.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-import json
 import re
 import sys
-import urllib.request
 from typing import List, Tuple
 
+import httpx
+
 
 def parse_dependencies(file_path: str) -> List[Tuple[str, str]]:
     dependencies = []
@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@ def extract_deps_from_string(raw_string: str) -> List[Tuple[str, str]]:
     return deps
 
 
+def get_requires_python_data(url: str) -> str:
+    response = httpx.get(url)
+    response.raise_for_status()
+    data = response.json()
+    return data["info"].get("requires_python") or "Unknown"
+
+
 def get_python_requires(package: str, version: str) -> str:
     if version == "latest":
         url = f"https://pypi.org/pypi/{package}/json"
@@ -48,16 +55,12 @@ def get_python_requires(package: str, version: str) -> str:
         url = f"https://pypi.org/pypi/{package}/{version}/json"
 
     try:
-        with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response:  # nosec B310
-            data = json.loads(response.read().decode())
-            return data["info"].get("requires_python") or "Unknown"
+        return get_requires_python_data(url)
     except Exception:
         # Fallback to latest if specific version fails
         try:
             url = f"https://pypi.org/pypi/{package}/json"
-            with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response:  # nosec B310
-                data = json.loads(response.read().decode())
-                return data["info"].get("requires_python") or "Unknown"
+            return get_requires_python_data(url)
         except Exception as e:
             return f"Error: {e}"