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Subject:Re: CHAT: how times have changed From:"Huber, Mike" <mrhuber -at- SOFTWARE -dot- ROCKWELL -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 13 Nov 1998 10:04:28 -0500
Daniel Grady wrote:
> it was published by STC. The author stated that just as the software
> engineers program the application, technical writers program
> the user.
I've done both, and I have a slightly different view. When I was
programming, my idea was that I was communicating with the user, except for
the rather rare parts of the program that were completely behind the scenes.
And even there, what matters is the impact on the person using the software.
For some programmers (myself included) even things that have no obvious user
interface, like compilers, are still a connection between the thoughts of
one person and another.
Now that I write documentation, I do sometimes think in terms of
"programming for the soggy pink (it's only gray when it's not running) CPU."
But not often. Mostly, I'm still presenting information, just in a more
direct and less interactive way.
But my conclusion is the same as Daniel's: programming and writing are, in
many ways, similar.
---
Office:
mike -dot- huber -at- software -dot- rockwell -dot- com
Home:
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