Why is writing documentation so hard?

Why is writing documentation so hard?

There are many reasons we can get documentation that isn’t fit for purpose. Project deadlines, developer turnover, or merely leaving documentation until it’s too late all lead to poor documentation. On top of this, writing documentation can be hard because developers typically want to be coding, not copywriting.

Is API documentation difficult?

API Documentation in a Nutshell APIs are meant to be consumed. As a result, it is critical to guarantee that users can begin adopting them immediately and without difficulty. Unfortunately, most APIs are inadequately documented, making integration harder and defeating the point of their existence.

Why do programmers fail to document their code?

Software code, often written in Java, C++, or any other language, is challenging to document in part because technical writers often aren’t already fluent in the programming language. Code is often arranged in non-linear order, so you can’t simply proceed line-by-line through it.

Is code a documentation?

Code documentation is a process by which a programmer documents his or her code. The lack of purpose to write code documentation leads to poor code readability and hard maintenance for other team members. Code documentation is different from project documentation as it mainly aims at how the system works.

How do you get a documentation code?

Best practices for writing documentation:

1. Include A README file that contains.
2. Allow issue tracker for others.
3. Write an API documentation.
4. Document your code.
5. Apply coding conventions, such as file organization, comments, naming conventions, programming practices, etc.
6. Include information for contributors.

Do software engineers write documentation?

Writing technical documentation for software engineers is more than authoring code comments. In order to use an application programming interface (API) or existing source code effectively, software engineers require different types of information.

Why is API documentation so bad?

So, what makes Bad API documentation? One indicator of bad API documentation is more time spent describing functions, instead of datatypes. For example, the Philips Hue API can actually be quite complicated. There are different requirements for colours, different to other colour codes.

What makes a good API documentation?

Clarity and brevity support the learning process, and are a best practice for all kinds of documentation. Avoid jargon, if possible; users will be learning domain-related language and new technology, and jargon can instill confusion. Help them by making all descriptions as easy to understand as possible.

What is a documentation in coding?

Documentation is anything you write in addition to your code to help someone else understand how it works. You might not think of it this way, but a good example of code documentation is a README file. A good example of basic documentation is the Express.

What is the best documentation tool?

List of Best Software Documentation Tools Out There

• Software Documentation Tool: Bit.ai.
• Software Documentation Tool: ProProfs Knowledge Base.
• Software Documentation Tool: GitHub.
• Software Documentation Tool: MarkdownPad.
• Software Documentation Tool: Read the Docs.
• Software Documentation Tool: Doxygen.

What does good documentation look like?

The most important rule of good documentation is for it to be as inviting as possible. This means that we should aim to write it in the clearest terms possible without skipping over any steps. We should avoid making assumptions about what our users may know. This means that all aspects of the project are documented.

What do you need to know about software testing documentation?

In my Software Testing career, I never heard people talking much about software testing documentation. The general opinion about testing documentation is that anyone who has free time can do the documentation like a Test case, Test plan, status report, Bug report, project proposal, etc.

Why is documentation difficult to do in software?

Hiring bad developers or not mentoring the good ones . They can’t write simple and clean code. Hence its difficult or impossible for anyone, including the developer to document the code. As a result, I have had to go through a lot of code and talk to many people to learn things. I feel this wastes everyone’s time.

What do you need to know about code documentation?

When most developers think of code documentation, they think of comments. Comments can be valuable additions to code, but they’re not the only definition of documentation. Documentation is anything you write in addition to your code to help someone else understand how it works.

What are some common mistakes in code documentation?

One common mistake I see with code documentation is to document information that’s already clearly visible. For instance, lazy developers will add “documentation” to a function by adding a block that provides the name of a function as well as the names of each parameter and their individual types. This type of documentation is useless!