What is Software Documentation? Definition, Types and Examples
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What is software documentation?
In the software development process, software documentation is the information that describes the product to the people who develop, deploy and use it.
It includes the technical manuals and online material, such as online versions of manuals and help capabilities. The term is sometimes used to refer to source information about the product discussed in design documentation, code comments, white papers and session notes.
Software documentation is a way for engineers and programmers to describe their product and the process they used in creating it in formal writing. Early computer users were sometimes simply given the engineers’ or programmers’ notes. As software development became more complicated and formalized, technical writers and editors took over the documentation process.
Software documentation shows what the software developers did when creating the software and what IT staff and users must do when deploying and using it. Documentation is often incorporated into the software’s user interface and also included as part of help documentation. The information is often divided into task categories, including the following:
- evaluating
- planning
- setting up or installing
- customizing
- administering
- using
- maintaining
