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Subject:Intro to phases of creating API documentation From:"Anna Junglas" <ajunglas -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 08 Nov 2005 11:26:10 -0800
I?d like to understand the basic phases of creating API documentation for a
Java application.
Setup
What are the tools I?ll need? (Java Doc, a version control system, an IDE)
How many different kinds of docs are usually produced in an SDK kit? What is
the main purpose of each?
Anybody know of a good example of SDK documentation?
Orientation
Is there a good glossary of terms that I can study?
What happens on the first day?
Who should I talk to first? What should I expect to receive from this
person?
Who should I talk to next?
Should I ask for an explanation of the modules?
Is it usually acceptable for a technical writer to sit in on code reviews?
?Writing?
I assume I?ll be expected to look at the code and tweak the comments - - how
do I ask for the location? - meaning do I say something like - ?what?s the
path in the version control system to the view the code??
How common is it to have UML diagrams in an API doc? Is this generally
created by the engineers? What tools do I need?
I have run JavaDoc - it magically pulls comments out of the code and formats
them. What kind of information do I need to collect in order to populate
those fields in the first place? Is ALL of the content stored in the code
or are there pieces that I?ll have to add after JavaDoc runs?
I?ve heard that examples are very important. Any tips in this area?
Tips on documenting logging?
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