Documentation
Documentation docs #link
Documentation System
The Grand Unified Theory of Documentation — David Laing
There is a secret that needs to be understood in order to write good software documentation: there isn’t one thing called documentation, there are four.
They are: tutorials, how-to guides, technical reference and explanation. They represent four different purposes or functions, and require four different approaches to their creation. Understanding the implications of this will help improve most documentation - often immensely.
This is a set of resources around how setup a system to document your software/product correctly. And there is four distinctive type of documentation (different style of writing):
- Tutorials — learning-oriented Usually the most important to “get-in”, and usually not very well done.
- How-to Guides — problem-oriented Series of step required to solve a real-world problem.
- Explanation — understanding-oriented
- References — information-oriented
Given how wide is this set of pages, I might link several sub-entries here.
What nobody tells you about documentation is the video from the author(s) of this set of pages.
Tips for Technical Writing | 8th Light
Do you struggle to write blog posts? Developing your craft when it comes to writing can be as intimidating as the buggiest code.
Refining your writing will be another fascinating challenge on your path to mastery. At its best, writing can be very satisfying. While it might feel daunting now, in time it could become something you take real pleasure in.
Yet it can sure feel difficult and daunting to establish yourself in this space. What should you write about? How should you get started? How often should you publish your work? Where? When?
It’s a lot to take in.
This post contains some advice to anyone aspiring to technical writing on the web. Also included are some creative writing exercises to help develop your thinking.
One very interesting part of this article is the template part of it:
- Beginning
- What are you going to tell me
- Middle
- The telling
- End
- What did you tell me