7.5 KiB
Who is reading
why documentation as a surface to build worlds around software?
docs to lower barriers and create entry points
a surface to 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 - see getting started
it's consulted not just from beginner, but also experienced users - see a code companion
yes but
it should stop assuming reader
it should be more welcoming for different kind of knowledges
leading to --> 2. welcoming different 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 and Soon, 2020)
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 another 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. One never stops reading. Even experienced programmers must refer to docs when first encountering a software, and return to the references when they need a refresher on the syntax of a particular command. They continuously look at code from multiple distances: close to the source code through lines of comment—ignored by the machine, but much appreciated by fellows developers—or from printed books, along with pages of explanations and use cases.
This tentacular surface can reach a programmer in different moment of their life: from the hello world to the how to uninstall. This is possible thanks to the multitude of shapes documentation can take: video tutorials and commands cheatsheets, README files and complete guides featuring colored images. Daniele Procida proposes a systematic approach to organize this wealth of formats (diataxis.fr, 2017). His framework focuses on the needs of different kinds of readers: by leveraging between practical and theoretical knowledge it charts four main modes of technical writing. Each format comes with its own approach and intentions, and in response to different questions.
This system organizes the knowledge around code in a way that tries to meet every user possible. The tutorial offers entry points for the newcomer, while the explanation reveals the core mechanism for the more navigated reader. The how-to teaches how to get the work done, while the reference reports a list of information ready to be consulted. Different documentation for different readers for the same code.
The diataxis framework doesn't encompass every particular necessity or developer, but its two axis offer a good structure to situate documentation within different context.
notes:
- gently reminder that would be nice to have always at least these four modes, but often there is no even one.
- better wrap up to say that docs can reach many different ppl (but maybe will be in the first atm missing section about what do we mean by worlding)
super wip from now on
Welcoming writing
-
lowering barriers
- debugging (p5.js education working group, 2015)
- aesthetic programming
- readme examples?
-
multiple entry points
- different entries make for different knowledges
- drawings and memes
- welcome.js (bridle, 2016)
"Natural" reader
- assuming a certain kind of reader - expert - dude
- references:
- programming for the millions (ullman, 2016)
- read the feminist manual (karayanni, 2021 )
Provisional txt dump
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 eventual 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)
Again about diataxis
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.
This could be a nice image to rework the diataxis:
practice receiving tutorial
theory receiving explanation
practice giving how to
theory giving reference
The structure of diataxis is useful to navigate through the different needs of a reader, or through different readers at all.
Documentation that fails to address its reader can result inaccessible and frustrating.