Re: Should software documenters learn to read code?

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

A poor one might.  A good one would more likely 
use newly acquired code knowledge to find out why 
software being documented isn't doing what it's 
supposed to be doing.  Or to write API documents.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com>
> But there is a danger. One reason programmers tend to make bad
> documenters is that they think in terms of the mechanics of the program,
> rather than in terms of the tasks the end user needs to perform. I
> technical writer who starts reading code might start thinking this way
> as well.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing 
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor,  Microsoft Word or 
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat