Fixing Your Software Documentation Problem in 2023

Software products are being built daily, and the necessity to create vital documentation has become a must. However, many product owners seem to neglect this issue. For instance, I recently worked on a React native project using a package. I faced difficulties with the mismanaged documentation because now I had a minimal idea about the recent upgrades, or previous bugs encountered. It took me days to figure out the correct configuration. To ease your documentation challenges, I’ll also introduce a software documentation tool in the blog so your efforts don’t get wasted.

Before heading to our main points, let’s define what documentation is:

Documentation is the act of communicating any material that describes, explains, instructs detailed information regarding an object, a system, or part of a system on how to assemble, build, maintain and use it.

Now you may ask, Why should I document my project?

Why is Documentation Necessary?

To Track Progress of Your Software Development Cycle

Be it your project or a team project, you need to provide enough documentation in such a way that even if you or one of your team members revisits the code after six months, you will still be able to understand what the function readNow() means.

Documenting your code is essential for you and equally for others. Not everyone knows what you have written, or the methodology you adopted. You might face similar issues. So, to avoid calling your colleague in the middle of the night and asking why he chose a particular code function, it is better to jot everything down so that others can use it as a reference. Another situation where documentation will pose a problem is when a developer builds a product for his client; later, if the product owner has to hire a new developer, the previous developer fails to provide code documentation. In this case, the new developer will either need to take a long period to walk around the code or rebuild some components or that were present but not documented.

We Need It!

Yes, we all need it. Even the client needs good documentation to use the product. Suppose you’re developing a product for a group of users in your company or external users. In that case, they need a document on installing, configuring, and using it if it’s a machine, software, framework, package. Another scenario where documentation is essential is when a product has undergone some changes. I mentioned a react native package earlier that was changed, but the documentation was not updated. Each time you modify your product, update the documentation.

Documentation is the reflection of your software product.

Getting Started with Project Documentation

Tip: the first step will be to start at the same time as your project starts. Poor documentation sometimes results due to deadlines, and at the same time, it’s time-consuming and too technical.

Time-consuming: Yes, documenting is not always easy, plus it takes time because each time you develop a feature, you will need to provide minor changes in the documentation describing what that feature does and how to use it.

It’s Technical: Let’s say you have a Technical Writer in your team who does the documenting task. If they are not developers themselves, it won’t be easy to grasp what the developers do and provide a good document.

In other words, if you are writing documentation:

• You should start at the same time as you start your project.
• You should think of how you will document.
• Select a good documentation tool.
• Provide multiple support.

And good documentation should provide:

1. A well-defined description of the product and each feature.
2. A preview so that a user can know what to expect.
3. Smooth navigation from one section of the documentation to another.

Documentation problems

You may have already identified many documentation problems if you read along attentively. Documentation is becoming a daily problem because:

1. Software updates are made monthly or weekly, and there is a need to update the documentation ASAP. Note that changing the documentation can create inconsistency and errors if not handled well. In this case, updating existing documentation is also a problem and should be done meticulously.
2. Documentations are often hard to read due to the absence of precise descriptions.
3. Writers assume knowledge that users often do not have. And end up skipping or failing to provide detailed steps.
4. Documentation sometimes becomes unavailable when needed (destruction of copies). There is a need to provide it somewhere that will always be available and in many spaces.
5. There is a need to review each part of the documentation in detail to detect any error.
6. It may be expensive and time-consuming.
7. Lack of appealing visuals and preview as well as ugly documentation visual.

Fixing Software Documentation Challenges with Docz

What exactly is Docz? Docz lets you create live-reloading quickly, SEO-friendly, production-ready documentation sites with MDX and customize the look, feel and behave when required by leveraging GatsbyJS and Gatsby theme shadowing.

We have pointed out many things that are becoming problems in the documentation domain, and Docz will eventually help you tackle most of these problems in the future.

It’s pretty simple:

• There is Zero config, and it’s easy to learn: Avoid unnecessary build steps with confusing setups.
• It’s Blazing fast: Built with performance in mind from the start.
• It’s easy to customize: Create something that will be easy to use and customize.

MDX-based: Use the best standard for writing documentation.

Another essential factor to note while dealing with software is that a well-documented product adds value to software and increases its marketability, contributing to marketing metrics. A well-documented product will attract users. In the next section, we will discuss getting started with Docz.

How Do I Get Started with Docz?

• If you are starting a new project, use the following create-docz-app command to create your project with Docz

npx create-docz-app my-docz-app
# or
yarn create docz-app my-docz-app --example typescript

• If you already have an existing project, then use

$ yarn add --dev docz@next # react react-dom#

# or

$ npm install --save-dev docz@next # react react-dom

• Create a button.tsx in your component/button folder

import React from 'react'
import t from 'prop-types'
const Button = ({ children, type }) => (
 <button type={type}>
   {children}
 </button>
)
Button.propTypes = {
 /**
  * This is a pretty good description for this prop.
  * Button type.
  */
 type: t.oneOf(['button', 'submit', 'reset']),
}
Button.defaultProps = {
 type: 'button',
}
export default Button

• Add a .mdx file in your component folder

---
name: Button
route: /
---
import { Playground, Props } from 'docz'
import Button from './Button'
# Button
<Props of={Button} />
## Basic usage
<Playground>
 <Button type="submit">Click me</Button>
 <Button>No, click me</Button>
</Playground>

• Lastly, run yarn docz:dev and open your browser(localhost:3000) to see your documentation.

We have come to the end of our discussion regarding documentation. We covered what documentation is, why it’s essential, the various documentation problems and how to tackle them with a great open source tool called Docz. It is a powerful tool with zero configuration, easy customization, and even supports Typescript. If you want to learn more about Docz, visit docz.site.

You can read more about Docz on Aviyel.