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RE: Remember secretaries? (was RE: Proof that content is more important than style)
Subject:RE: Remember secretaries? (was RE: Proof that content is more important than style) From:cpwinter -at- rahul -dot- net To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 6 Dec 2002 21:24:25 -0800
On 3 Dec 2002, at 11:22, David Downing wrote:
>
> << I would expect most good programmers to also be good at writing.
> The
> cognitive skills are similar. Whether they choose to write text (as
> opposed to writing programs) is another question. It's understandable
> that they might prefer not to exercise the same set of "muscles" on two
> different tasks.>>
>
> Granted, the assertion that computer programmers can't write is a
> stereotype. The problem is that they tend to have trouble writing about a
> piece of software in the terms the end users needs. They tend to think in
> terms of the anatomy of the software, rather than the actions an end-user
> wants to take. The result is that a programmer could produce a beautifully
> written document that was more a set of functional specifications than a
> user manual.
>
Now that I won't argue with. (I mean, that is a statement with which I
will not argue. <g> ) Clearly, programmers must focus on abstract
considerations in order to program effectively. Doing the things that tech
writers do in order to produce effective documents clearly would be a
distraction that would make them less effective at their primary task.
Writing in the sense that professional tech writers do it is obviously far
more than just putting well-composed sentences on paper. But that latter
also falls within the meaning of "writing".
Chris
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