RE: Writer/Programmer

Subject: RE: Writer/Programmer
From: Craig Haiss <craighaiss -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:21:45 -0800 (PST)

Good point, Al. I agree that the high-level languages are usually the most practical, especially for technical writers.

As a technical writer, I use the following on a regular basis.

Perl - For making complex edits in many files at once. (The Regular Expression features in Perl are amazing.)

JavaScript - For enhancements to HTML-based help (and tweaking WebHelp functionality).

VBA - For automating Word tasks and converting Word documents to other formats, such as HTML.

ASP (rarely) - For adding server-based functionality to HTML-based help.

.BAT and WSH - For automating file delivery, archiving, and so on.

Has anyone else found a specific language handy for solving tech writer problems?

I agree about writing technical docs on stone tablets; if your spell checker finds a typo, you have to scrap the whole slab.

Craig Haiss
craighaiss -at- yahoo -dot- com
Tech writing tips: http://www.helpscribe.com


--- On Wed, 1/28/09, Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com> wrote:

> While I agree that a finer understanding of how computers
> operate, my minor
> included VAX Assembly Language, in addition to Pascal and
> Fortran. I have to
> say that my VAX Assembly Language class was the last time I
> used that
> language. Any other time I worked on a VAX system, I used
> UNIX. I use more
> of what I learned from BASIC and Pascal than I have from
> VAX Assembly.
>
> However, with that said computers are just plain fun and
> sure make tech
> writing a heck of a lot easier to do than the old days of
> chisel on granite.




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References:
RE: Writer/Programmer: From: Al Geist

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