Types Of Documentation
When it comes to technical writing; software documentation is an important one and always in demand. Documentation is an important part of software engineering. Types of documentation include:
- Requirements -- Statements that identify attributes, capabilities, characteristics, or qualities of a system. This is the foundation for what shall be or has been implemented
- Architecture/Design -- Includes relations to an environment and construction principles to be used in design of software components
- Technical -- Documentation of code, algorithms, interfaces, and APIs
- End User -- Manuals for the end-user, system administrators and support staff
- Marketing -- How to market the product and analysis of the market demand
A technical writer plays various roles when it comes to writing for the software. In many places, the developers and engineers themselves produce the technical and architecture design documentation.
Below are descriptions of a few documents produced during a software development:
Requirement Specification: This document portrays and describes what the customer has asked for in a form of technical document to actually define what the product will do.
Functional Specification: It is the document giving a good volume of information about the functioning of the product. This document is for the customer before any development starts.
Design Specification: This document is written after the client has approved the Functional Specification. It gives images and the look and feel, the color scheme, fonts etc about the product in form of document.
User Manual/Guide: It is a printed guide that contains introduction of the product or software, how to use it, context about the interface, what the controls mean etc.
Hardware Manual: It is a guide for how the working of a physical existing product can be handled. Giving a procedural guide with images to make the user understand the hardware.
Software Manual: This guide is for giving the instructions to the user about installing a software, how to initialize it, how to use it, what steps to take out a required result and defined terms of the product.
Installation Manual: An installation manual is one, which gives quick installation information about either the hardware or software. These sometimes include Quick Start guides. Quick Start guides are the ones inserted in the CD cases or packed with the product composed of 1 or sometimes 10-14 pages.
Online Help: The online helps are the online guides and electronic form of the user guides.
Online Support: Online support is for helping a user through a problem, may it be trouble shooting, looking for a solution or any other difficulty. For example, if a user comes through a problem in case of being a developer using Microsoft product, he will go to the www.microsoft.com’s Support link and select the Developer Support section.
Application Helps: These helps are suitable for the desktop applications, or intranet applications. They are Win help and HTML help. Win help is rarely used, whereas HTML help is similar to the help opening in MS office.
Application Notes: These are the direct reference notes that give exact information about using a product. The customer organizations and companies usually use these documents.
Data Sheets: These documents are used as advertising media in the consumer market. It has a language, which gives information about the product-to-be launched. It imparts details on the characterization of the product thus explaining what benefits customers will get if they purchase it.
References:
Markel, Mike. 2009. Technical Communication. Published by MacMillan. ISBN 0312485972, 9780312485979
Acknowledgement:
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