Considering how most software products developed by engineers suck (read "Why Software Sucks...and What You Can Do About It"), giving engineers tasks of writing docs positions the complete SDLC for disaster.
Great presentation! The only thing I can't agree is about Reference docs. They MUST be generated automatically. Usually, there's huge amount of formal data that must be synced with source code. It's practically impossible to keep this in sync by hand. The English text is written by people; they create templates and documentation preprocessing tools fill out the necessary forms, e.g., tables, or create graphs and diagrams.
“Great documentation is written by great developers.” Well...this is occasionally true. Not all great developers are great at communicating their knowledge. Docs from the developer are most often a good starting point for someone who knows how to structure and communicate that information.
I'm not a developper but I write docs better than the devs I work with even though I had zero programming knowledge prior to this job. This is such a skewed view of things.
Thank YOU!!!! This is a must hear - great presentation.
Have anyone ever heard of technical writers? ...coders are often busy. Have a tech writer beside them during coding...
"Preach about documentation" I Looove it
Considering how most software products developed by engineers suck (read "Why Software Sucks...and What You Can Do About It"), giving engineers tasks of writing docs positions the complete SDLC for disaster.
what about technical writers??
Very cool presentation. The suggestions are really helpful!
Great presentation! The only thing I can't agree is about Reference docs. They MUST be generated automatically. Usually, there's huge amount of formal data that must be synced with source code. It's practically impossible to keep this in sync by hand. The English text is written by people; they create templates and documentation preprocessing tools fill out the necessary forms, e.g., tables, or create graphs and diagrams.
“Great documentation is written by great developers.” Well...this is occasionally true. Not all great developers are great at communicating their knowledge. Docs from the developer are most often a good starting point for someone who knows how to structure and communicate that information.
Good stuff, thanks for sharing
Preach :)
yes yes yes
ну блин, а то думал что с переводом(, блин как же достала не знать англ. язык
I'm not a developper but I write docs better than the devs I work with even though I had zero programming knowledge prior to this job. This is such a skewed view of things.