Bob DuCharme, an skilled technical author and creator talks about writing documentation for software program merchandise. On this episode we focus on the varied sorts of documentation that one creates for software program merchandise. Host Nikhil Krishna spoke with Bob in depth concerning the distinction between a majority of these documentation and the audiences they aim; significance of utilizing correct grammar and readability in writing good documentation that folks need to learn; different types of documentation (photographs, video and audio); challenges of sustaining and updating documentation; protecting documentation in sync with merchandise; toolchains for constructing documentation; historical past of software program documentation tooling and requirements.
This episode sponsored by OpenZiti.
This transcript was robotically generated. To counsel enhancements within the textual content, please contact content material@pc.org and embody the episode quantity and URL.
Nikhil Krishna 00:01:05 Hey and welcome to Software program Engineering Radio. I’m Nikhil and I’m a brand new host on Software program Engineering Radio, and I’ve the pleasure to introduce Bob DuCharme. Bob is an completed author, software program engineer, and a knowledge architect who has been concerned with the semantic net since 2002. Bob is an creator who has written books for O’Reilly, Manning, and Prentice-Corridor — particularly, Studying SPARQL, XSLT Shortly, and The Annotated Specification and SGML CD for Prentice-Corridor. He’s additionally written in magazines, so he has written for the Modalities journal, O’Reilly Networks, XML.com, Dr. Dobbs channel, and even IBM technical books. He’s presently a technical author at Katana Graph, makers of a high-performance distributed graph database, and relies in Charlottesville, Virginia, and has 5 books and almost 100 on-line and print articles about IT. Bob is proud to have by no means used the phrase “performance” in any of them. Bob, is there something in your bio that I’d’ve missed or that you simply wish to add?
Bob Ducharme 00:02:16 I feel you’ve obtained the important thing issues. I imply, I’ve kind of gone forwards and backwards between software program growth — resolution architect is at all times such a obscure time period, however you recognize, serving to prospects determine what they’re going to do — and writing it up. So generally extra coding, however proper now I’m blissful to be able the place I’m just about a full-time author.
Nikhil Krishna 00:02:35 Superior. To provide listeners slightly little bit of an summary on what they’re going to do on this specific episode, we’re speaking about creating technical documentation. So, clearly there are numerous sorts of documentation and you’ve got a task as a technical author proper now in Katana Graph. So maybe we must always begin with slightly bit concerning the technical author position itself. So, the primary query can be, why do we’d like this position? Why is the technical author essential for a software program group?
Bob Ducharme 00:03:06 Usually, when individuals get a product, they need to know the right way to use it. And there are sensible programmers on the market who know their favourite languages inside out and all of the cool issues you are able to do and the right way to do them effectively. However these builders may not know the right way to clarify the top consumer utilization of these merchandise to people who find themselves new to it. So, explaining to individuals, determining what they’re going to need to search for and the right way to do this stuff, that’s actually the tech author’s job: you recognize, to write down the consumer guide, principally, the consumer guide or/and reference information and different issues like that, which we are able to discuss have overlapping obligations. However individuals will get a software program product, they need to know the right way to use it, so the tech author is the one that explains the right way to use it.
Nikhil Krishna 00:03:50 Cool. So simply to dig in slightly bit, what are the specialised abilities? So, what does the technical author deliver to the job that perhaps a software program engineer with an English talking background can not do?
Bob Ducharme 00:04:03 Effectively, sometimes to take pleasure in writing. I imply, lots of people simply don’t prefer it; they view it as an terrible chore. Possibly anyone writes on the aspect or has a weblog or one thing like that, however you want to have the ability to discuss and talk with on one hand the top customers and however with software program builders to grasp the technical components. If a developer has a brand new characteristic and says, right here’s what it does, and that’s not clear, the technical author has to have the ability to ask the suitable inquiries to say, ‘I get this half and this half, however this half right here, how does that work?’ They should kind of interview them to seek out out the data essential, to then clarify it to people who find themselves new to the product who don’t have that technical background. So, the communication ability goes in two instructions. One, to the end-user and two to the extra technical individuals, the builders.
Nikhil Krishna 00:04:50 So, does that imply that the technical author must have a software program engineering background as a result of if he’s speaking to software program builders about technical matters, does that imply that it’s essential to have that very same language of similar vocabulary to have the ability to perceive?
Bob Ducharme 00:05:08 It helps. I do have, since I first grew to become a technical author, I alongside the best way did get a grasp’s in pc science. And that has helped me quite a bit to grasp the technical discuss and in addition to assist kind out precise technical phrases from buzzwords, which is one other factor, as a result of, you recognize, you hear these phrases getting thrown spherical. A few of them have particular meanings, a few of them get misused. So, I’ve typically joked in some locations that I’ve labored at having a grasp’s in pc science helps me to speak to the PhDs. After which translate what they’re saying to common individuals. So it helps, but it surely’s not essentially, particularly if the product is — some merchandise may have finish customers who’re non-technical. If it’s a cellphone app to assist observe one thing, however some merchandise may have technical finish customers, particularly in the event you’re going to be writing about, an API or one thing like that. The flexibility to speak with the builders turns into increasingly more vital then the extra technical viewers is.
Nikhil Krishna 00:06:05 Superior. So once more, simply to sort of elaborate slightly bit on that. So what sort of documentation, technical author sometimes give attention to? Do they really create design or structure paperwork? Or is it extra like user-facing documentation, like manuals and installations? Is that, I suppose a operate of what sort of software program venture you’re writing documentation for? Or is that this one thing that as a regular is at all times going to be written by a technical author?
Bob Ducharme 00:06:38 I’d say that you simply’re, if somebody has a technical author position there, their major job is to write down user-facing documentation. These kind of structure diagrams and stuff, it’s fascinating to see these, and people are good background after they’re creating. But when an organization goes to funds to have a tech author that’s to have somebody who creates that a part of the product. The a part of the product that helps finish customers stand up and working. And there’s three primary sorts of consumer documentation. And after I first began this, it was again within the day when there have been printed documentation. We might make three separate volumes for this on the locations the place I labored. The primary can be a reference information. A reference information ought to clarify principally all the pieces anyone sees within the product, each icon, each menu selection. In the event that they take a look at one thing and suppose, what good is that?
Bob Ducharme 00:07:20 What’s that for? They need to have the ability to shortly discover it and look it up and see what it does. After which aside from the reference information, the opposite huge one can be the consumer information. A consumer information is organized extra by way of the duties that the top consumer desires to do. The consumer information is de facto geared toward somebody who doesn’t know the product. So, for instance, if it’s a database program, it might say the right way to create a brand new database, the right way to put information in there, the right way to edit it. You’d talked about, I wrote a e book referred to as “XSLT Shortly” for Manning, which was concerning the XSLT language for manipulating XML. And I had come from a background with SGML earlier than that; XML is principally an easier model of SGML. And my work with SGML enabled me to, after I wrote the define for the XSLT e book, earlier than I even knew the right way to write any XSLT, I used to be nonetheless capable of write a consumer information define as a result of I knew what the duties individuals needed to do have been: Create new components, rename components, convert components to attributes and forwards and backwards, delete, rename.
Bob Ducharme 00:08:17 I knew what the fundamental duties have been, in order that I might create a top level view that mentioned issues like, The best way to Create Components, The best way to Delete Components, The best way to Rename Attributes, and so forth. So, when somebody’s a consumer information, they need to see the names of the duties. The consumer information shouldn’t be speaking within the technical language, or not less than the Desk of Contents shouldn’t be speaking within the technical language of the product. It needs to be speaking by way of the duties that customers need to get finished. And that’s not at all times simple as a result of you must, perhaps work with advertising and work with a few of the UI builders to seek out out, to grasp the customers, what are they making an attempt to do with this product? What are the varied issues? How do these issues match collectively? You actually need to get contained in the consumer’s head, so you possibly can then clarify right here’s how to do that. Right here’s how to do that. And that brings me to the third class of documentation together with reference information and consumer guides can be, I’d name it a fast begin or getting began, however a tutorial. Generally I’ve seen getting began to cowl set up as properly, however a tutorial for somebody who’s by no means used the product, which I take into account virtually like a demo, like giving a demo to your self, you recognize: the first step, click on right here, step two, click on right here on this comes up. That’s for this nice motive, as a result of to kind of showcase the cool components of the product, perhaps even it’s in a method, much like what somebody giving a demo in entrance of a convention may do. To undergo 10 or 15 steps to indicate the cool components of the product. The tutorial, I feel, is one thing the place a script somebody can provide that demo to themselves and see how cool the product is and the right way to do the fundamental issues. So these, I suppose, can be the three classes, reference information, consumer information, and a fast begin tutorial.
Nikhil Krishna 00:09:50 In order a software program developer, if I’m on this subject, what are the talents I have to domesticate? Possibly are there some easy pointers that as builders, we are able to observe to enhance our documentation for perhaps our aspect venture? Or perhaps even when it’s not our venture and we’ve been requested to do some documentation, what are some easy pointers or issues that we are able to do to make it possible for we’re writing good technical documentation?
Bob Ducharme 00:10:23 And right here’s one thing I’m in all probability going to say quite a bit: there are a whole lot of analogies to writing the software program itself. So, for instance, with documentation, if the software program was developed from a well-organized set of necessities, these necessities are going to be very helpful to you. , there’s this checklist saying prospects ought to have the ability to do that, prospects ought to have the ability to do that, buyer ought to have the ability to do that. So, if in case you have some well-written necessities, that’s an awesome place to begin. Right here’s how to do that, right here’s how to do that. Different issues embody, I at all times like to consider two courses of reviewers. While you write, explaining one thing, you need to present it to, after all, a developer or somebody to just be sure you defined it appropriately, that you simply didn’t get something fallacious. However you additionally need to, what I name a target market reviewer — somebody who doesn’t know the product however has some curiosity in studying the product; have them learn what you wrote and see, might they observe alongside? Did your clarification work for them? And if not, the place? So these two sorts of reviewers I feel, are vital to remember whenever you’re creating one thing.
Nikhil Krishna 00:11:26 Okay. So, are there any easy issues that we are able to do by way of the language itself? So perhaps, this can be a great way of placing, so is grammatical accuracy completely write to? Or is it okay to say, okay so long as I’m technically correct some grammatical difficulty are high quality, it’s not that sturdy. What do you suppose?
Bob Ducharme 00:11:57 Effectively, I imply grammar it’s not like, whenever you’re writing code and in the event you forgot a semi-colon the entire thing’s not going to compile, proper? It’ll nonetheless be there. But when the grammar is dangerous, it’s in all probability going to be more durable to grasp. , if in case you have a plural topic with a singular verb, individuals studying it, aren’t going to cease and return and it’s going to be more durable to observe. So, I feel grammatical accuracy, easy issues like that and punctuation, this stuff I feel are vital. It’s going to be more durable for the technical components to be put throughout if it’s finished with errors within the grammar. I do know one other once we have been in secondary faculty and we wrote these papers and handed them in and our academics gave them again with plenty of purple markings saying you employ the passive voice right here.
Bob Ducharme 00:12:42 You need to have used the lively voice. There are causes for this stuff and just like the well-known Strunk and White e book on Components of Model, it makes your writing simpler to learn. To do issues like that, it’s to mimic good writers. I imply, to range the construction of your sentences. I imply whenever you’re studying somebody whose studying you want, generally it’s good to cease and step by and suppose, properly, why do I like this individual’s writing? Have a look at the construction of the sentences, into the combo up lengthy ones and brief ones and issues like that. If it’s simpler to learn, persons are going to have extra motivation to learn it and also you need individuals to learn it. However one other level I used to be going to deliver up, an enormous distinction from technical writing from different typical prose writing is that folks aren’t going to learn what you wrote from starting to finish.
Bob Ducharme 00:13:27 , it’s not a novel. They picked up that documentation as a result of they need to look one thing up. They need to see the right way to do one thing. And in order that’s with technical writing, we sometimes encourage extra use, making it simpler to skim by doing issues like bulleted lists, numbered lists, tables. If it’s simply grey paragraphs on a white web page, it’s quite a bit more durable to seek out. I imply, you possibly can put a whole lot of subheads in, I suppose, and with on-line documentation too, it’s simpler to look, which was not the case with arduous copy paper. I’ll throw in earlier than I neglect about with lists, bulleted checklist versus numbered lists. I’ve seen individuals will typically use numbered lists when they need to have used a bulleted checklist. If I say, there are three issues to recollect whenever you’re going to do that one, increase, two, increase, three, increase.
Bob Ducharme 00:14:13 Effectively, are these three issues, is that order actually important for that? After all, it’s important whenever you’re writing an set up information. To do that, set these atmosphere variables, run this script, obtain this, after all these steps definitely need to be a numbered checklist. But when I say, you recognize, there are three issues to recollect. I discover that folks typically are very fast to make one thing, a numbered checklist when it doesn’t actually should be one, it needs to be a bulleted checklist. So issues like that, over the lists, nested bulleted lists, listed numbered lists, this stuff are how we break down the data that we’re presenting so that folks can skim and discover the solutions to the questions they’ve, about the right way to do issues together with your product.
Nikhil Krishna 00:14:54 That’s very fascinating. And I discover it fascinating that you simply talked about that enormous blobs of grey textual content on a web page don’t sort of encourage you to learn it. So, I used to be considering of, what do you concentrate on a few of the newer methods I’ve seen documentation sort of get created, proper? So now it’s not simply textual content, it’s additionally video or photographs. There’s a whole lot of wealthy media that may be leveraged. So, what do you suppose usually of that pattern? Do you suppose it’s one thing that may be thought-about technical writing so as of the significance of an excellent doc? I imply, do we have to have the identical sort of consideration whenever you’re creating your tutorial video as you do whenever you create an FAQ or a tutorial doc?
Bob Ducharme 00:15:47 Positive. I feel, once we say technical author, I keep in mind that there was a company, I feel I’ll have been a member years in the past, referred to as the Society of Technical Communicators (STC). The individuals who take into consideration these different media as properly. I feel whenever you get into different media moreover textual content, once more like with software program, whenever you’re creating one thing, you must take into consideration how maintainable is that this factor I’m creating? Six months from now, if the product adjustments and that is out of date, do I’ve to redo the entire thing? Can I am going in and repair one little bit? I imply, in the event you wrote a sequence of bulleted numbered lists and it’s essential to add one checklist merchandise to one of many lists within the textual content, that’s simple sufficient. For those who spent seven hours making a half hour video and, and a few of the issues midway by means of it not apply, then that’s a much bigger deal.
Bob Ducharme 00:16:37 I imply, even with screenshots, even with photographs, generally, I used to be working someplace as soon as the place they modified the emblem of the product that was within the higher left. So, all the pieces nonetheless labored the identical, however now all these screenshots, they seemed outdated. And there are methods to cope with it however considering forward about maintainability like that, is vital. And getting again to movies, think about a 20-minute video that explains the right way to do 10 issues. And now the fourth factor is completed in a different way. So, you’re going to remake the entire video and that may be an actual ache. So, one strategy is to have a sequence of 2-minute movies that designate the right way to do a particular factor. That’s not at all times as simple because it sounds as a result of a few of these issues is perhaps constructing on one another and in addition managing a bunch of 2-minute movies and their relationships and making it clear to the viewers, which one goes with which, there’s the upkeep is harder.
Bob Ducharme 00:17:31 I feel movies are particularly helpful if it’s a graphical consumer interface and for demos. We click on right here after which right here after which this pops up and look, there’s our information. And look it obtained processed and now we are able to see the outcomes of the question or the evaluation. I feel that’s very helpful to indicate how some issues, though one other factor about creating movies is that folks may be, audio high quality. Generally individuals suppose, properly, my coworkers can hear me together with his headset I’m carrying on a zoom name. So, my audio high quality is okay. Whereas, I imply, you and I, we had a separate assembly earlier than our dialogue at this time, simply to speak about mics and the rooms we’d be in and recording. So, podcasters after all care extra about, suppose more durable about, having good audio high quality. Generally when individuals make movies to demo software program, they’ll simply use the identical mic and so forth. They do it within the assembly and don’t notice that may actually diminish the product.
Bob Ducharme 00:18:26 So simply going out and shopping for a $20 Microsoft mic will help. I imply, I suppose I’m sort of rambling right here, however I wish to point out moreover totally different sorts of applied sciences for creating documentation, together with video and pictures and audio, one other one which’s I feel getting used increasingly more nowadays of particularly the merchandise that contain code, are notebooks like Jupiter notebooks, Zeppelin notebooks. These are nice as a result of they allow you to format issues, have your bulleted numbered lists and all that, and blend them with code that folks can then see, execute themselves. Or I put in a pattern, somebody studying it will possibly modify the pattern and see that. So, I feel that’s been a fairly thrilling growth in documentation of code. It doesn’t assist a lot with graphical consumer interfaces. In order that was sort of rambling. I hope I addressed, if there’s something I missed, let me know.
Nikhil Krishna 00:19:20 No, I feel you probably did fairly properly. So clearly we’ve touched upon a few of the challenges of sustaining video versus textual content. And that I feel can also be sort of brings out an underlying level, which is that software program merchandise will not be a snapshots that by no means modified, proper? Software program merchandise evolve over time. Documentation must be up to date. And the extra documentation you could have of various ranges of depth, there’s at all times one thing that must be modified, proper? So even when it’s a minor model improve, and perhaps there’s an API change that wants the reference guide may very well be up to date, for instance. So clearly this has penalties. In order individuals want used paperwork which can be not appropriate, get pissed off. So from a consumer perspective undoubtedly, outdated documentation is an issue. However how do you really see, do we’ve an answer from a course of perspective or a tooling perspective, how do you really work with, how do you evolve the documentation together with software program? Let’s say.
Bob Ducharme 00:20:29 Effectively, two issues right here. One, I suppose, can be the creation, upkeep, and one other can be distribution. For creation and upkeep, it’s increasingly more principally, you test it into the model management system. Right here’s the brand new options for launch 4.2. Right here’s the write-up of launch 4.2. And that method they’ll, they keep in sync. For distribution, what I’ve seen a whole lot of corporations do, I imply Katana Graph does as properly, is after they’re publishing the documentation, as a result of most documentation, nowadays it’s going to be HTML, proper? You’re going to have principally a web site exhibiting the books and the subsections and you may navigate by means of there. So that you may need, the HTML would typically embody, or somewhat the URLs would typically embody the discharge quantity proper in it. So, it’s like your organization title.com/documentation/ 4.2 slash index HTML, after which slash 4.3 and you may depart all of them up there. After which what a whole lot of corporations will do is that they’ll have your organization title.com/documentation/newest, which is ready to redirect to the newest one. In order that method you’re leaving all of the documentation up from a number of releases similtaneously a distribution factor, however there’s nonetheless a single URL, the newest one. So that folks can see what’s the present state of the documentation and what’s the documentation for the present state of the product.
Nikhil Krishna 00:21:51 So simply to sort of additionally take into consideration out loud of a few of the alternate options over there. So, you talked about versioning techniques. So do you suppose, is that sort of like versioning techniques the best way we take into consideration software program versioning techniques? Possibly get a sub-version, do you suppose that versioning which can be instruments like Google docs which have variations in it and even Dropbox, for instance. Issues like primary versioning of paperwork now, do you suppose that’s, which to you suppose you favor sustaining, documentation. And in addition needless to say, okay, like we had mentioned earlier. A few of that documentation is perhaps binary, so we don’t actually have a method of protecting parts of the doc ID. If it’s like a picture you logged and that you simply up to date your picture, you’re going to have your entire picture once more, attempt to enable a brand new copy of the picture portion of the picture. So what do you suppose is appropriate? Is it high quality to make use of Google docs or do you suppose that technical writers want to make use of the identical throughout that point?
Bob Ducharme 00:23:01 They should use the identical tooling as builders. However I imply, the truth that the versioning can sync proper in with the software program itself, as a result of a whole lot of documentation now, I imply, I might focus on this extra later, however persons are creating information. You’re writing information which can be then going to be a part of a construct for documentation in order that, like this HTML primarily based distribution, I discussed, if a designer on the firm decides, oh, I don’t like this font, or we’d like a much bigger margin right here. They’re going to vary some CSS and like with any web site then regenerate all the pieces. In order that technology is a part of it’s, it’s a constructed similar to with software program. In actual fact, some corporations it’s a part of the identical constructed like constructing the software program. So working with that system of the construct, using the checking within the instruments and tagging and Git, you possibly can actually benefit from all the identical issues you are able to do with code to try this. With one thing like Google docs,
Bob Ducharme 00:23:55 I imply, I feel it’s nice for inside documentation, however I at all times thought the worst case with documentation. Some little corporations will do is that they create a Phrase file, proper? Right here’s a 5-page Phrase file about the right way to use the product. After which when a brand new launch comes, they’ll pull up their Phrase file and revise, a few of it. And so they’ll put, I hate after they put the Phrase ultimate within the file title. Possibly generate a PDF from that, or perhaps even give individuals the Phrase file, which is a fairly amateurish option to do it. And Google docs is nice for therefore many issues, however the versioning of it in tying that to launch variations of the software program, I feel you’re a lot better off utilizing the instruments {that a} software program firm already has in place to try this. To do Git or Bitbucket or no matter, to maintain observe of the items and the connection of the items and the connection of these items to the releases. So it’s generally for a tech author to be taught the archana of Git may be irritating, but it surely’s not such as you’re doing a whole lot of rebasing and so forth with the documentation. So that you don’t need to get that far into the troublesome Git weeds, in my expertise to this point.
Nikhil Krishna 00:25:00 Yeah. That’s an awesome level. And simply, so that you talked about additionally earlier about publishing the doc as a HTML web site. So, one of many issues I’ve observed, particularly within the open-source world is the rise of those particular issues like learn the tops or a particular sort of web site software program as a service platforms, proper? The place Git books, learn the docs, et cetera, the place they really deal with the internet hosting and publication they usually even have, issues like looking your documentation throughout numerous variations, et cetera. So, from that perspective, do you could have a course of on a instrument chain from constructing documentation from the purpose of, okay, I’ve now entered the content material. So, I do know that is the content material that I wish to publish. After which sort of like, is that like an excellent instrument chain that you simply’ve used, or perhaps you possibly can discuss slightly bit about your expertise with older instruments and stuff like that. However sometimes what’s the instrument chain that one sometimes makes use of these days to generate these web sites and the CSS and HTML and all that?
Bob Ducharme 00:26:23 I feel a few of the hottest instruments now are principally instruments for technology of static web sites which can be typically specialised for documentation. So, for instance, the place I’m now, and it’d in my final place that I held earlier than we use Sphinx. With Sphinx you’re creating the precise content material in restructured texts. It’s a type of markdown descendants. So Astros on both aspect, to daring or italics and so forth, however then you possibly can nonetheless have your CSS and have the construction to indicate that these six pages right here, I need to create a Desk of Contents right here that has these six on this order. And that each one will get automated the technology of all that HTML. And when you could have these information like this, the RST and the CSS and different issues like that, it makes it simpler to include it right into a model management, into Git or one thing like that.
Bob Ducharme 00:27:18 Then it might be in the event you have been like revising Phrase information time and again. So it may be a part of the software program documentation instrument chain. After which they’ll have a go course of and a few locations will combine it extra deeply or not into the software program construct course of. However as a part of a launch you need to ensure you’re getting the three factors stuff. 3.2 stuff, 3.2 product and three.2 code all in the identical place. So it typically is tightly built-in there. So I’ve discovered that very helpful. And it’s additionally due to its relation to markdown. It’s simpler for builders are used to that. In order that they don’t thoughts writing in that if I might again off and go into slightly historical past again within the, I suppose within the Eighties, there have been when computerized typesetting was turning into an enormous factor. These corporations would say, yeah, you possibly can ship information with codes of the way you need your books laid out and the place you need the fonts and all that.
Bob Ducharme 00:28:13 And in these days it might have been delivered on tape for all I do know. So you place in these codes, would you need to have these codes whenever you need a subhead and these codes for bullets and so forth, however totally different competing corporations doing that. They’d their very own units of codes and a few individuals, I feel some at IBM particularly, I do know for certain, however another locations as properly, they mentioned, wait a minute, we don’t need to tie up all of our, have all of our documentation written utilizing your proprietary codes. We need to have extra flexibility. So, they got here up with a, what grew to become an ISO customary. SGML a option to outline the construction of a doc after which to make use of that construction definition to say, you recognize, let’s say you’re going to have a cookbook. I need to create one thing it’s going to be a number of recipes.
Bob Ducharme 00:28:57 And a recipe’s title, after which it’s an inventory of substances and an inventory of steps. After which there’s going to be a component what number of it serves. So with this SGML you could possibly outline a construction like this after which create the paperwork on this case, recipes, after which automate the checking of people who construction confined to, does it observe the construction that I outlined? And in the event you, in the event you observe it follows a construction, you could possibly automate much more. You may then flip, and that is within the early days of multimedia getting past paper. I’m going to show it into on-line, assist. I’m going to show into CD ROMs. I’m going to show into HTML. And so I obtained concerned in HTML and I’d go to the conferences and I obtained to know a few of the individuals who did it.
Bob Ducharme 00:29:35 And a few of them realized SGML and a few of the software program was very costly doing this. A few of the SGML was very sophisticated. So, a few of these individuals obtained collectively and thought we have to create an easier, simpler model of SGML. One thing that wouldn’t take a lot computing energy, one thing that may very well be parsed with a program that’s you possibly can simply obtain over the web with this new language, Solar Microsystems has referred to as Java. In order that was 90’s, I suppose? So, they have been engaged on the simplified model of SGML. They first, the primary unique working title for it was Net SGML, not as catchy. After which somebody considered a catchier title, XML. And that’s the place XML comes from. It was a simplified model of SGML. So, a whole lot of the instrument chains SGML when it was invented for this, that’s what locations like Boeing and enormous protection contractors to doc the engine components they have been considering again then, that documentation, we must always deal with it like software program by way of breaking it down into elements.
Bob Ducharme 00:30:36 If this subsystem of this engine can also be used on different engines as properly, we must always have the ability to write up the right way to clear, the right way to restore this sub system after which take that write up and add it to the documentation for the opposite engines as properly. So these have been a few of the early strikes towards making documentation componentize, similar to software program in order that it may very well be combined and matched and used for various merchandise. And there can be the instrument chains for SGML and later XML to do what I used to be saying about syncs now that you’d have your CSS right here you’d have instruments for producing the HTML from there, or the net assist or the CD rom. Builders didn’t like dealing immediately with the XML as a lot, markdowns are slightly easier. And there have been instruments to be slightly extra gooey-ish, slightly look, slightly extra like WORD that will nonetheless output the suitable XML, however generally these may very well be costly.
Bob Ducharme 00:31:30 In order that’s one other kind of lineage of the instrument chain for creating software program documentation, {hardware}, documentation is XML and associated instruments. Folks don’t notice that that’s what XML was for as a result of when it was XML was first invented, it was across the time of the.com increase. And with the.com increase, early 2000’s. There have been individuals, you recognize, we’re going to have seamless e-commerce and have this pc talk with that different one throughout the net to ship the orders and reply to the orders, however sending and responding to those orders, they needed to ship these batches of information that didn’t essentially match into CSV. They’d have extra sophisticated constructions than that. In order that they noticed this XML factor from the W3C. We are able to outline our personal constructions. , right here’s the start of a order, right here’s the top, right here’s the handle, right here’s the checklist of things being ordered and so forth. In order that they began utilizing XML for that, to do that E-commerce. Principally the sort of issues persons are utilizing Jason for now. They began utilizing it and thought, that is excellent. After which they determined, no, this isn’t excellent in any respect. That the info typing system is bizarre and whoever designed it did a horrible job. Effectively, they didn’t notice that whoever designed XML was not designing it for the makes use of they have been placing it for. For dealing with arbitrary handfuls of information about transactions forwards and backwards.
Nikhil Krishna 00:33:28 Simply to shortly simply bounce in on over there. So, I keep in mind that we went down this complete path with XML concerning the net standing, the Ws star, and the entire set of VEP service X quantity of requirements. I feel one of many, perhaps the issues that sort of led to the adoption of Json and the requirements like that was the truth that you could have all the sediment right here how, what the doc needs to be like. However I additionally keep in mind at the moment, there was this competing, talking for documentation, there was this different factor referred to as RDF, proper? And I used to be simply questioning, was that truly one thing that would have, if appropriately championed being one thing that sort of to go over the documentation aspect of issues that XML sort of was meant to have, or meant to be for?
Bob Ducharme 00:34:25 No RDF is nice at metadata paperwork, however to have a sequence of paragraphs with sentences the place there’s inline factor in the course of a sentence, I’ve a hyperlink, I’ve a bolded time period, RDF just isn’t good for that. Our RDF is about decreasing information down to those three components statements referred to as triples. So I can say worker 38 has a rent date of January 1st, worker 38 has the final title of Smith. After which the flexibleness that RDF provides you over one thing like a relational database allows a plenty of new issues, together with the flexibility to mixture information from totally different sources and issues like that. And I imply, I might go on and on about RDF, however for linear
Nikhil Krishna 00:35:07 So it does extra of that one thing that XML was making an attempt to goal to be that what the web site was maybe a greater method of doing it.
Bob Ducharme 00:35:21 for one thing like Json, you’re higher off, I feel. With RDF, the metadata, when you could have particularly a whole lot of, within the subject of digital humanities and a whole lot of publishers, they’ve content material from plenty of totally different locations they usually need to hold observe of the content material and that content material, in these various things may have totally different bits of metadata, however generally they’re associated, despite the fact that they’re totally different as a result of from this requirements, physique or that one, and so mapping between the requirements of the dig after which question throughout all their metadata for a variety of thess, RDS actually good for that. However not for the content material itself, the kind of narrative content material of paragraphs and bulleted and numbered lists. We might do complete solid on RDF.
Nikhil Krishna 00:36:00 Yeah. So to come back again slightly bit on again to our technical documentation matter, one of many issues that I’ve seen, you talked about utilizing swings and the instrument chains like that. And we additionally mentioned a few of the older instruments like SGML and XML, but it surely gave the impression to be generally that relying on the kind of documentation, a few of these is extra automatable and others are much less, proper? So, for instance, we talked about earlier in what sort of technical documentation needs to be generated. We talked about FAQ’s tutorials, high-level technical paperwork, which clarify issues to non-technical individuals. However on the similar time, if in case you have one thing like a Jess on API or HPP API, we even have instruments that like Swagger, which you’ll simply discover that the, the specs or the API itself, in some circumstances sort of generates the documentation out of it, proper?
Nikhil Krishna 00:37:10 It’s virtually like you possibly can take a look at the sorts of the varied response requests and that sort of create a doc that lets you, in some circumstances, even create pattern instance requests and responses that you should utilize for testing. However I generally get the sensation that, okay, that’s once more, too low stage. The place do you see the stability between the 2 needs to be? And the way a lot of the documentation that’s generated for a software program venture may be generated like that? And the way a lot of it’s nonetheless one thing that you simply need to just be sure you write within the correct method?
Bob Ducharme 00:37:52 That’s an excellent query. I feel, like I discussed one thing like a tutorial, you actually need to consider carefully concerning the order you’re going to elucidate issues in what you could have the individual do of the three buckets. I discussed of tutorials, reference guides and consumer guides. With reference guides, it may be slightly extra automated like with Swagger, I’ve used it however I can’t keep in mind the title. Is that, was that the instrument you talked about that may pull issues out of APIs and generator?
Nikhil Krishna 00:38:20 Yeah. So spider is principally a part of the open MPI. I feel it’s referred to as the Json API documentation tooling and what it does is it seems to be at Json’s paperwork and sort of generates the request agenda web-based documentation, which has which particulars on all of the lists of all of the attributes properties after which the sorts of it. Which isÖ
Bob Ducharme 00:38:47 And I consider it is going to pull out
Nikhil Krishna 00:38:50 Yeah, it pulls out a few of the feedback as properly from the entrance, from the operate. So you may get a excessive stage, two line description of what the API does, however then that will depend on how properly, if
Bob Ducharme 00:39:02 Precisely, and, and that’s rubbish in rubbish out. I imply, that’s a instrument that may undergo and pull out and see, oh, this operate takes three parameters and the parameters are speculated to be of those varieties. And it returns one thing of this sort. That’s good to automate the pulling of all that and the enumeration of it, however this, the doc strings, how typically have we seen doc strings? So simply clarify what we wished to elucidate. So, and that may be a tech author operate to, to evaluation that documentation after which perhaps create some tickets and say, hey, you return and revise that doc string to elucidate that higher. Certainly one of my pet peeves is whether or not it’s explaining the fields on a dialog field or parameter being handed to a operate. If we are saying right here’s a parameter referred to as Fu and the documentation says, enter the Fu worth there. And I’m considering, okay, however what’s Fu? What position does Fu play on this utility? And how much issues may I put there? So the reason that goes in there, instruments like that, they’re like bare instruments. It’s nice how they’ll pull all the pieces collectively after which create the factor you’re searching for. However the issues they’re pulling collectively need to have some high quality in them and generally they will help level to which components should be up to date, however nonetheless it’s rubbish in rubbish out.
Nikhil Krishna 00:40:22 Proper. So now that you simply talked about that he had talked about protecting and utilizing the identical Git tooling and the movement tooling and making an attempt to maintain the documentation variations the identical because the software program. In order each portion of software program, you additionally purchased the model of documentation that sort of keep that. So principally we could, if we sort of, from a course of perspective, say being self-aware as a software program engineer, we principally approached doc strings or feedback. And we sort of write a correct clarification for each operate. And principally attempt to use that as documentation. Do you suppose that theoretically, it’s potential to sort of combine that in. Do you continue to really feel that there’s a separate place, require a separate folder or perhaps a separate venture inside your Git repository that it’s best to hold a separate viewpoint, separate perspective, or a separate sort of documentation?
Bob Ducharme 00:41:29 This actually will get again, I feel, to the excellence between reference guides and consumer guides. Reference guides that’s all reference information stuff. , you need to checklist all the pieces. I imply, I feel when somebody seems to be at a product they usually see some unusual icon or menu selection and suppose, properly, what’s that for? The reference information is the place they might look it as much as discover it out. In actual fact, with a graphical consumer interface, and this may be troublesome, however I feel it’s vital. Each instrument tip needs to be, if there’s some unusual icon, you don’t know what it means, however you mouse over it and also you see some instrument tip. That instrument tip needs to be one thing that the consumer can search on within the reference information. And, I’ve labored locations the place I needed to inform the shopper builders earlier than every new launch, which instrument suggestions obtained modified?
Bob Ducharme 00:42:11 I would like to have the ability to title all of the instrument suggestions within the documentation, as a result of that’s the hook for individuals to seek out out what the icon is for. So a whole lot of the reference guides for not just for technical issues like APIs, however even for the gooey, as a result of for the graphical consumer interface to elucidate all the pieces they see, they need to have the ability to search for what that’s. Then again, a degree I wished to deliver up about consumer guides is that properly, I discussed how, after I wrote up Desk of Contents for an XSLT e book, I didn’t use any XSLT phrases. I talked concerning the duties to do. If let’s say, for instance, your product has a element to develop a schema and it’s referred to as Schema Wiz, okay? And also you’re going to doc that, to me if the consumer information has a header referred to as Getting Began with Schema Wiz, that’s not an excellent title.
Bob Ducharme 00:43:00 I imply, I need to see titles like Making a New Schema, Revising an Previous Schema, Deleting Schemas. Naming the duties that should be finished versus utilizing the phrases you made up in your product as a part of the motive force of the consumer information. So I suppose to get again to your query about a spot for one thing separate from the, the checklist of issues, that’s the place the consumer guides go. To one thing organized by the duties they need to do, versus one thing that’s organized by the product itself, being organized by the product itself remains to be vital as a result of that’s the place they see one thing on the product that, that’s the place they go the reference information to see what is that this factor for? What good will this do for me? So, I suppose to simplify, to getting again to your unique query, that’s the distinction to me between reference guides and consumer guides.
Nikhil Krishna 00:43:48 Proper. So once more, these days principally there may be this concept of an X Esco philosophy, proper? So, you could have dev sec ops documented. So, we’ve safety as code configuration, Esco X, one thing else. That is philosophy that all the pieces sort of begins turning into encode. We sort of been discussing how shut documentation is and our how they’re with code, so ought to we be treating, approaching our documentation as code and sort of utterly have, not simply the portion management, have software program processes for it. So, we are able to have like who to request for documentation, the ICD for different documentation. We’ve like a evaluation course of. We’ve like, we’ve documentation opinions. What do you concentrate on this specific? What’s your opinion on this?
Bob Ducharme 00:44:51 I imply, I agree with it. I feel that treating it as code, enables you to benefit from all these instruments that you’ve that you have already got to work together with your code. So, for instance with opinions, evaluation of documentation, like code opinions, a whole lot of corporations, I write one thing I want it reviewed. I created a journal ticket, to assign somebody to evaluation it. After which we are saying this, this characteristic is held up till somebody does the evaluation, similar to when somebody’s reviewing some C code that was written. So, I feel that treating it as code has the benefit of letting you benefit from all these instruments. We simply, why the old school method of making a WORD file to have the documentation there. It doesn’t allow you to benefit from these instruments and issues. So, utilizing the instrument set is the benefit you get from treating it as code. So, I feel that’s been inspired in a whole lot of locations proper all the way down to using JIRA tickets to assign documentation duties.
Nikhil Krishna 00:45:46 Okay. So then if on condition that proper, that in smaller corporations, it is usually typically the position of whoever’s doing the software program documentation to additionally develop issues for advertising, proper? And for Gross sales. So, then you could have like in startup, you may need the identical technical author and even software program developer, for instance, being approached by the advertising division and saying, Hey, okay, we want you to write-up one thing about this specific characteristic that we are able to submit or share with the e-mail e-newsletter, for instance. Do you suppose the talents required for this type of writing, writing advertising content material and writing gross sales content material, how comparable is that? Or how totally different is it from writing technical documentation?
Bob Ducharme 00:46:42 I feel it’s very comparable as a result of, particularly whenever you’re writing technical documentation, issues like tutorials, as I discussed, and even launch notes, I thought-about to primarily be advertising paperwork as a result of with each the tutorial and launch notes, what you’re seeing is take a look at this cool stuff. Isn’t this nice? Right here’s this factor so that you can use. So I consider them as, as advertising documentation. Advertising communications is a option to promote issues. To say, what are the good issues concerning the product and why individuals needs to be all in favour of utilizing it. Inside a company you’re generally working with the advertising individuals. You turn into the tech editor, they may begin throwing the issues that make your product cool, perhaps related to buzzwords that they prefer to throw round, however don’t perceive, that’s fairly frequent. So making that technical documentation extra, making the advertising communications extra technically correct, I feel is an enormous a part of that. And so they’re often blissful to have you ever proper? Or a few locations I’ve labored the place they’ll have a software program developer write a weblog entry. And then you definately, because the tech author, rearrange it a bit to make it extra, user-friendly not solely to prospects, however to potential prospects. I imply, individuals who simply got here throughout your weblog and are much more on technical, however they’ll get perhaps shopping for the product in order that the technical author is kind of coordinating between builders and advertising individuals to assist create new weblog entries.
Nikhil Krishna 00:48:09 So we also needs to embody this class into our concept of documentation as code and sort of subjected to the identical sort of processes. Do you suppose that that’s to work? So, is that one thing that’s troublesome to do whenever you begin involving third events like gross sales and advertising and all of these individuals who is probably not conversant in it?
Bob Ducharme 00:48:36 Yeah, in all probability not the identical processes as a result of, you recognize, gross sales and advertising individuals it’s, you recognize, assigning them tickets and having them test issues into Git, it is perhaps a bit an excessive amount of to ask for. However I feel serving to them to coordinate the content material itself to make it possible for it’s technically correct, however well-written, that each one is, I feel very helpful they usually’re in all probability going to have their very own instruments. , they is perhaps creating PowerPoint shows they usually need your assist with that or Phrase information that they will flip into PDF. So, they’re going to have their very own processes and the developer processes of utilizing Git and so forth might be going to be over their heads. However, you recognize, you’re the liaison between them, between the advertising individuals and the builders. It’s your job as a tech author to translate the technical stuff to the non-technical individuals. So that’s an fascinating place to assist apply that. To serving to with the advertising.
Nikhil Krishna 00:49:27 Superior. So, Bob I feel we’ve sort of reached the top of what I had in thoughts. In our dialog to this point, we’ve talked about software program documentation from the attitude of a reference manuals and consumer manuals and guides and issues like that. There’s additionally, particularly in the event you’re writing, in the event you’re a part of a software program venture, that’s a fairly substantial shock software program product you is perhaps requested, properly, can we create a e book grant? Can we create some sort of substantial artifact out of it? Proper? So perhaps we publish a e book concerning the venture. Is that the identical as, or much like, by way of course of, to creating technical documentation? Do you suppose a e book is an efficient method of writing a couple of software program product that retains altering and retains evolving, simply a few questions?
Bob Ducharme 00:50:27 Effectively, you could possibly, I imply the consumer information materials you could have, that that may very well be an output format. There are methods to simply flip that into a tough copy e book, however I feel a associated difficulty a couple of e book is that some individuals will we’ll see, okay, O’Reilly has a bunch of books about Oracle merchandise. , that will be cool if there was an O’Reilly e book about our product or Manning or one of many huge pc publishers, some workplaces the place individuals thought, oh, wouldn’t that be cool? And writing a separate e book to go together with a writer. I imply, some publishers will work with you to do a brief e book that you could then give away, however you recognize, that’s going to price you cash, however to write down a whole e book about one thing that could be a kind of separate entity from a separate writer, it’s enjoyable when it’s finished, but it surely’s much more work than individuals notice.
Bob Ducharme 00:51:13 And you recognize, we have been speaking earlier about one of many points of creating movies is you place an enormous quantity of labor in one thing that may very well be out of date six months later. For those who’re going to place 5 or 600 hours into writing a e book that’s going to be, that would probably be out of date a 12 months later, a 12 months and a half later. And that’s an vital factor to consider the sources that go into the creation of the e book. And after I’ve written books, they’ve often been about requirements as a result of requirements transfer extra slowly of their upgrades than merchandise from corporations. So, in the event you’re writing about launch 3.2, when 3.5 is out, individuals aren’t going to look too arduous at your e book and it may be much more, some individuals will they’ll suppose like, properly it takes me half an hour to write down a web page.
Bob Ducharme 00:51:59 So a 300-page e book that will take me 150 hours and that’s not the way it works. , one of many causes you could possibly write that web page in half an hour is since you already had that web page’s value of content material in your head, all organized. There’s much more work to do to prepare the content material for 300 pages. Secondly, even in the event you might write 300 pages in 150 hours, that’s simply your first draft. It’s obtained to undergo extra drafts simply to enhance the writing to ensure it’s technically appropriate. Plus, you’re going to have a whole lot of analysis to do. Some individuals suppose, oh, properly, we might do it in half the time if two individuals wrote it collectively, but it surely’s going to be extra like 70% of the time as a result of you must coordinate what you’re doing. After which as soon as the factor will get upgraded your e book goes to look outdated. So there are some highlights to writing a e book about your software program to be revealed by a writer that — I used to be going to say places issues in bookstores. We don’t see that a lot, however — places issues on Amazon the place individuals should buy the e book, however it may be much more work and you must take into account how shortly it is going to turn into out of date. Upon getting an improve or two, it’s all this work you probably did as already historical past. Does that handle what you have been asking? I used to be sort of rambling there.
Nikhil Krishna 00:53:07 I feel that’s an awesome overview of a few of the challenges of e book writing, and I’m certain not the least of it is usually the totally different course of that the e book publishers may need. Proper? It may not be the identical factor that you simply’re used to following together with your technical articles the place you in all probability editorial oversight as properly. However yeah, I feel that’s, that’s an awesome level to sort of finish this podcast. I simply wished to ask if listeners would be taught to observe or contact you, if there are, perhaps you’d like to speak about a few of the issues that you simply’re engaged on proper now, that is your probability.
Bob Ducharme 00:53:50 If individuals need to contact me on Twitter, I’m @Bob DC, B O B D C. And in addition I did handle to get a few years in the past, the area title, BobDC.com. So, you’ll find out extra concerning the books I’ve written and that’s additionally the place I’ve my weblog. So there are a number of, I can ship you a hyperlink to place within the present notes of a sequence of weblog posts. I did a number of years in the past, actually about writing documentation, about a few of these points we’ve coated and another issues to remember.
Nikhil Krishna 00:54:15 Superior. We will certainly add that to the present notes, and I suppose all meaning is thanks. Thanks, Bob. This has been a fairly partaking dialog. I feel this it’ll be very precious to our listeners. Thanks for spending the time with us.
Bob Ducharme 00:54:33 Effectively thanks for having me. It’s going to be enjoyable driving round in my automobile, listening to a podcast the place I’m the one speaking. I’m certain you’re used to that by now, but it surely’s been a whole lot of enjoyable. And I like speaking about these things.
Nikhil Krishna 00:54:43 Thanks Bob. [End of Audio]
