Technical Documentation in Software Development: Why It Matters
Recently I was in a developers’ hangout, and amidst a certain discussion, controversy began over technical documentation. While some were eager to comprehend the necessity of documentation, outrightly there, few others question the need and reliability of technical documentation in the software development cycle. At the moment, I observed that this was a general lack of interest in anything that has to do with writing and reading documentation by programmers. Also, I think it’s a ripple effect from the advent and evolvement of the AGILE methodology. Well, Agile could be used to reach the goal. However, the question of documentation veracity and its view by an Agile team won’t be answered in this article. But, I implore you to stay updated on my ‘channel’ as I will address it in one of my future writings. As for now, let’s plunge into why you need documentation in the development cycle is it as a small team or in a large organization.
Without a doubt, documentation is an industry-recommended practice throughout the entire Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), and for all kinds of software products. This is a blueprint document that entails every data and information about a product. You may think of software documentation as an oversight or a body that houses all written documents and materials when dealing with software product development. Over the years, dev professionals and IT educators have emphasized and reaffirmed its importance during development. I will argue that it is a continuous process that often needs rewriting and upgrading since it describes the process and usage of a product, and a product requires continuous development. Thus, it’s needed even after the development stage.
Technical documentation is a guiding manual that assists the team (developers, tester, users, clients, and stakeholders) to stay on track towards achieving the project goals. NB: Never confuse the above with the waterfall approach to software development, nevertheless, as I would explain later in a subsequent article(s), it is one of the methods for developing technical documentation.
As we go further, I must tell you that one of the reasons why technical documentation matter is that it safeguards and put developers and stakeholders on the same path to achieve the goals of the projects. More importantly, it describes the functionality, combines project-related data, and permits collaborative discussion, and paramount queries occurring from developers and stakeholders.
In addition, it makes new developers placing hands on the job look worried if there’s no proper documentation of the process to development. Among its essentiality discussed so far is that it gives the record of every step used, and that is used throughout the SDLC, from the arrays of API routes and endpoints to giving an explanation on libraries used, integration, quality control, testing, maintenance, and other software development kits (SDK).
Lastly, to give you an icing on the cake, it is vital to take note that technical documentation is of different kinds — process documentation and product documentation. There are processes and tools to follow for standard technical documentation during SDLC. Watch out for my subsequent article as I would take you through the steps and tools needed for developing standard technical documentation in your current or next project.
Stay active, Be happy!
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