Re: Programming vs. Technical Writing

[Kris Olberg <kjolberg -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Meng <ELMENG -at- TEEXNET -dot- TAMU -dot- EDU>
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
Date: Thursday, August 13, 1998 10:42 AM
Subject: Programming vs. Technical Writing


>[snip] ... I've noticed that the
>SME, (a "real" programmer), can write a program to accomplish a
>specific task in a few lines of code; when I write a program to
>accomplish the same task, my code is always longer.


"Practice makes perfect" is appropriate here. An accomplished, professional
programmer has perfected a craft, much the same way writers perfect style,
grammar, and organization. This made an impression on me when taking
programming courses: frequently, the first homework assignment would consist
of a simple program upon which we (the students) were required to build
final assignments. Often, the number of lines of code in the final
assignment was only a few more than in the first, yet the final application
contained more functionality.

>This makes me think that technical writing and programming approach
>information in entirely different ways.  When I write, I tend to present
>information step by step; the last thing I want to do is to skip a step and
>lose my reader. When the programmer writes code, he seems to look for
>ways to skip steps, or integrate several steps into one. His main concern
>is making his code short. Has anyone else noticed the same thing? - LM


Programmer's goals are to write code that is:

(1) Efficient. This means fewer cycles required by the "processor."
(2) Usable.
(3) Bug free.
(4) Easy to maintain.

To me, these sound pretty much like the goals of a technical writer.

Regards...Kris
-----------------------------
kolberg -at- actamed -dot- com
kris -at- olberg -dot- com


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