RE: API Documents

["Lydia Wong" <lydiaw -at- fpoint -dot- com>]

Hi Anu,

If you search the archives, you'll find several discussions about API
documents, including some that have discussed the essential elements of API
documentation.

Offlist, I will send you one of our online help files for the API
documentation we create where I work. I hope it will be helpful to you. Be
aware, though, that the API documentation can vary greatly depending on what
API you're documenting and, of course, your audience. Our audience is
Windows developers working mostly in VB and VC++ with our development
controls.

Finally, check out these web sites:

http://www.gordonandgordon.com/apisandsdks.html
This links to a workshop about documenting APIs and SDKs. I did not attend
the workshop, but did buy the accompanying workbook. I'd highly recommend it
for someone just starting out in API documentation. If you can attend a
workshop, it might be worth the time and expense in terms of ramping you up
more quickly.

http://pw1.netcom.com/~gscale/susanwg/cmindware/api.htm and
http://pw1.netcom.com/~gscale/susanwg/cmindware/ohoh.htm
Two white papers by a frequent TechWr-L contributor, Susan Gallagher. These
are excellent discussions concerning API documentation and documenting
Object-Oriented programming.

I hope this helps some, Anu! API documentation can be complex and confusing,
but it can be fun, too!

Lydia : )
__________________
Lydia Wong
Technical Writer
FarPoint Technologies, Inc.
www.fpoint.com


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