Re: info about methodologies for documentation

[John_F_Renish -at- NOTES -dot- SEAGATE -dot- COM]

Ricardo Eito asks:

<snip>
I am interesting in methodologies and templates to document the code of
software applications: modules, flow of data, input and output variables,
and so on. Can anybody give me any information about standarized
procedures:
books,
articles, standards, etc?
</snip>

Tony Markatos responds:

<snip>
There really is only one tool for what you want to do -- Structured Systems
Analysis techniques.  Best bet -- look up Yourdon Press on the web.
</snip>

And I say proceed with caution. I am a great admirer of Ed Yourdon and his
methods, but other views might be more appropriate in your situation.
Yourdon's work on classical structured analysis and design is unsurpassed,
but his work on structured object-oriented analysis and design is more or
less in the middle of the pack. In addition, the IEEE publishes a whole
book of standards and templates for this process, many houses like the
Capability Maturity Model (CMM), and yet others prefer Motorola's approach.
As a technical writer you should not be making the decision about which way
to go--rather, you should present these alternatives to the senior
development management and have them select from among them. We use a
modified IEEE document set, as well as materials from Motorola (for quality
assurance) and CMM, and we are looking at a commercial package that
provides formats for certain auxiliary documents, such as regression
testing. Finally, we are integrating all our methods into ISO 9000 to raise
the bar on the quality of our software.

John_F_Renish -at- notes -dot- seagate -dot- com, San Jose, California, USA
My comments represent my personal views and not those of my employer.
"A collision at sea can ruin your entire day."
--Thucydides (yes, I know it's spurious)

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