6.6 KiB
Who is reading
could documentation be a surface to build worlds around software?
build worlds?
where software circulate
who gets to use it
political of the software
yes because
it's often first thing one reads when approaching software # getting started
it's consulted not just from beginner, but also experienced users #a code companion
different docs for different readers
yes but
it should stop assuming its reader
it should be more welcoming for different kind of knowledges
Getting started
Reading undocumented code feels like being an ant walking on a big painting. You can see the strokes of a brush, and have an intuition of their direction, but what's missing is an overall idea of how the composition flows. Documentation provides guidance through the bunch of functions and statements that makes software, a bird's eye perspective. It is often the first thing one gets across when approaching a new library or programming language, and it shapes the way a developer thinks about particular piece of code.
At the very first encounter with a new script, details about its source code are unknown. Programming is a play in medias res, and documentation acts the role of narrator. Describing how functions are stitched together, or an algorithm is implemented, it sets the stage for developers to participate. Showing the different steps of a program and how they are connected, it offers entry points for interventions.
For example Vue.js, the popular library for building web user interfaces, explains with a diagram the lifecycle of its components: at which moment data are received from a server, at what point an element is rendered on screen, and when it will disappear. What at the beginning feels like magic, gradually appears more clear. Presenting a structure means also presenting a way to reason about it. The reader gains some understanding and agency over the tools they are about to use.
The introduction to a program situates it also within a larger ecosystem: how to install it, and what dependencies it requires to work properly. As Geoff Cox and Winnie Soon elaborate on their decision of a downloadable code editor instead of a web one for their classes, code is more than just a single piece of software. It is also the relations with the configuration of one's own computer and operating system. (Cox & Soon, 2022)
better transition above
better conclusion below
The initial imprinting of documentation is a vantage point to orientate code in the world.
A code companion
The devil is in the details, and software as well: the translation between human and machine has to be negotiated with all the specifics of a particular programming language or platform. Sometimes for the web, sometimes for a hardware component, sometimes for a different operative system. These specs make every piece of code a bit alien and peculiar. Tinkering with code is not just knowing by heart a programming language, but rather having to deal with a lot of different recipes for different occasions.
Documentation is not just for beginners: it's a code companion. It relates with code continuously. Even experienced programmers must refer to the docs when first encountering a software, and return to the references when they need a refresher on the particular syntax of a specific command. One never stops reading. Documentation acts as a portal to different moments in the life of a programmer: from the hello world to the how to uninstall.
- documenting code from different distances
- different documentations for different readers
- lowering barriers and creating entry points
- readme examples
- p5js debug examples
Software without documentation
Software without documentation is invisible. Therefore it is important to document it. Software without documentation tends to slip away, to disappear. Therefore it is important to have some notes on how does it work, how does it tackle the problem to solve.
These guidelines are helpful when sharing programs with others, as well with future selves. They provide an entry into the messy relationship between developers and machine.
bonus caption for images:
Being programming slightly different from cycling, people tend to forget what their code does, and how did it get there. (Maybe because it doesn't involve muscle memory?)
Software documentation is a defensive mechanism operated from our past selves to protect the present and future ones.
Cuneiform writing and comments. (even though this is cuneiform writing and syntax highlighting)
Different distances
Documentation can happen at different distances from code: directly in source with lines of comment—ignored by the machine, but much appreciated by fellows developers—or it can be printed in books, along with pages of examples and references.
Who is writing could be the very same developer or someone else. Writings come with different approaches and intentions, and as response to different needs.
Different documentation for different readers
Documentation comes in many different forms. Daniele Procida offers a systematic approach to organize this wealth of formats (diataxis.fr, 2017).
His framework is built at the intersection of two axis: one goes from theoretical to practical knowledges, while the other from study to work. Here study could be read as learning or understanding, while working means getting things done. Another powerful couple of synonims is receiving and giving: by combining the renamed axis we can get a glimpse of the flow of knoweldge involved in documentation.
practice receiving tutorial
theory receiving explanation
practice giving how to
theory giving reference
The structure of dyataxis is useful to navigate through the different needs of a reader, or through different readers at all.
So who's reading?
Not for beginners
Documentation that fails to address its reader can result inaccessible and frustrating.
who is reading?
- assuming a certain kind of reader - expert - dude
- references:
- programming for the millions (ullman, 2016)
- read the feminist manual (karayanni, 2021 )
lowering barriers and creting entry points
-
lowering barrier
- debugging (p5.js education working group, 2015)
- aesthetic programming
- readme examples?
-
Problems with depth (too shallow or too deep)
-
multiple entry points
- different entries make for different knowledges
- drawings and memes
- welcome.js (bridle, 2016)
that brings us to --> welcoming different knowledges