To write code for nALFS you should be familiar with the C programming language and the XML specification.
Once you have those mastered, you will need to have the following on your linux computer:
GNU autoconf-2.57 or newer.
GNU automake-1.7.7 or newer.
GNU libtool-1.5 or newer.
GNU autoconf-2.57 or newer.
GCC-3.3 or newer.
CVS-1.11 or newer.
OpenSSL-0.9.7c or newer.
A good editor like Vim or Emacs.