Documentation for software/source code

Similar to typical software development, documentation is something developers should take note of!

There are two kinds of documentation.

The first kind is as a user guide for the client and communicates how to use the system, including a troubleshooting guide.

The second kind is technical documentation, which is often our in-house documentation. This explains how the source code was designed and derived, that includes; architecture, the type of libraries used, version, and other network related details.

Here, we detailed the key processes to help you better understand.

Client Documentation

1) Provide an introduction about the software, how to install and its features

2) Based on the features, categorise and explain how to use them

3) Provide the different scenarios user could use the feature

4) Provide basic troubleshooting in relevance to the user level and their work curriculums

Internal Documentation

1) Provide an introduction about the software and its architecture overview

2) Provide instructions on installing the software and its backend features

3) Provide details about the features designed. These includes

i) brief background of why the source code was created

ii) the source code and its libraries and version number

iii) explain key parameters of the source code

iv) provide citation and licensing, includes compatibility

v) provide all the sources in helping you to write the code

vi) Methods used for script testing

4) How to handle potential errors

5) Proposal of an alternative solution if necessary

Additional tips: To allow clarity, it is essential you detail;

i) version number of your documentation

ii) details of major edits and reasons behind

Reference from: Berkeley