In general terms, documentation is any communicable material (such as text, video, audio, etc. , or combinations thereof) used to explain some attributes of an object, system or procedure. It is often used to mean engineering documentation or software documentation, which is usually paper books or computer readable files (such as HTML pages) that describe the structure and components, or on the other hand, operation, of a system/product. Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and Software documentation or source code documentation is written text that accompanies Computer Software. The term machine-readable (or computer-readable) refers to information Encoded in a form which can be read (i HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant Markup language for Web pages It provides a means to describe the structure
A professional whose field and work is more or less exclusively to write documentation is called a technical writer. A technical writer is a professional writer who designs writes creates maintains and updates technical Documentation &mdashincluding Online help, User guides Normally, technical writers are trained or have a background in technical writing, along with some knowledge of the subject(s) they are documenting. A technical writer is a professional writer who designs writes creates maintains and updates technical Documentation &mdashincluding Online help, User guides Often, though, they collaborate with subject matter experts (SMEs), such as engineers.
Common types of computer hardware/software documentation include online help, FAQs, how-tos, and user guides. Typical PC hardware A typical Personal computer consists of a case or chassis in a tower shape (desktop and the following parts Motherboard Online help is topic-oriented procedural or reference information delivered through Computer software. FAQ is an Acronym for " Frequently Asked Question(s " A how-to or a how to is an informal often short description of how to accomplish some specific task A user guide, also commonly known as a manual, is a Technical communication Document intended to give assistance to people using a particular system The term RTFM is often used in regard to such documentation, especially to computer hardware and software user guides. RTFM is an Acronym for the statement " R ead T he F ucking M anual"
A common type of software document frequently written by software engineers in the simulation industry is the SDF (software documentation folder). While developing the software for a simulator, which can range from embedded avionics devices to 3D terrain databases to full motion control systems, the engineer keeps a notebook detailing the development lifecycle of the project. The notebook can contain a requirements section, an interface section detailing the communication interface of the software, a notes section to detail the proof of concept attempts to track what worked or didn't work in solving certain problems, and a testing section to detail how the software will be tested to prove conformance to the requirements of the contract. The end result is a detailed description of how the software is designed, how to build and install the software on the target device, and any known weaknesses in the design of the software. This document will allow future developers and maintainers of the trainer to come up to speed on the software design in as short a time as possible and have a documented reference when modifying code or searching for bugs.
In some European countries, documentation in an academic context is an older term, coined by Paul Otlet, for the field of study now more commonly known as library science and information science. Paul Marie Ghislain Otlet (pronounced "ot-LAY" (born 23 August 1868 in Brussels, Belgium, died 10 December 1944 Library science is an Interdisciplinary Science incorporating the Humanities, Law and Applied science to study topics related to Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the collection classification, manipulation storage retrieval and dissemination Librarians with this specialization are called documentalists. Documentalist is a kind of Librarian, trained in Documentation (field and specializing in assisting researchers in their search for scientific and technical documentation
See also
External links
- IEEE Professional Communication Society
- Documentation Definition by The Linux Information Project (LINFO)
- Information & Documentation List of selected tools
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