TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Technical Writers and Programming Skills From:Mike Collier - SSG <MikeCol -at- SBSERVICES -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 13 May 1997 14:28:24 -0400
I have a couple of questions for technical writers who use programming
skills in their jobs. I'm talking about software development languages
such as C++, Java, Visual Basic, and C.
What level of programming knowledge is required of you in your work ?
For example, are you required to be able to read blocks of code and
explain what it is doing, and/or do you write code samples for use as
examples?
If you've recently learned a programming language, have you been able to
learn effectively and apply what you've learned from books of the "Learn
[whatever] in 21 Days" variety? What other means have you used to learn
programming?
What is more important to spend your time on-- developing and refining
programming skills, or other technical writing skills, such as using
document production software and writing and editing ?
If you (or if you would) hire technical writers with programming skills,
how would you evaluate their skills in a job interview (e.g., explain
the inputs and outputs of a block of code, comment a block of code,
write a simple program, etc.)
I have seen some help wanted ads looking to hire technical writers who
can write user documentation straight from the application's source code
(I assume without analysis, design or other project documents to use as
reference). Isn't this asking too much, even of a skilled technical
writer with modest programming skills? If you've done this, how did it
go?
Thanks
Michael Collier
mikecol -at- sbservices -dot- com
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
