regardless of theirtechnical proficiencies. This way, there’s no barrier to API adoption, no matter their programming experience. Understanding your API thoroughly will help you lay out your API documentation, too, from structuring your documentation to offering useful, practical examples. ...
In addition, we train our writers in best practices for API documentation. We engage Tom Johnson (IdRatherBeWriting.com) to deliver his course on documenting APIs. We also have our own training to supplement Tom’s course. Some of our writers have attended Google’s training on API documenta...
In this course on writing documentation for APIs, instead of just talking about abstract concepts, I contextualize APIs with a direct, hands-on approach. You’ll first learn about API documentation by using a simple weather API to put a weather forecast on your site....
Understand the API:Anyone who is writing API documentation needs to not only understand the API's purpose, but also be familiar with its endpoints, methods, parameters, accepted data types, and authentication mechanisms. This will help ensure that the documentation is accurate and complete. ...
API documentation is an often overlooked component of API suites, This kind of writing is a specialty within technical writing because of its dependence on development. Schools and universities don't teach it, training for new API documentation writers is sporadic, and companies do not always ...
As Rubin points out, good writing is essential to good documentation. And, while we might not think of API documentation as being on par with the Great American Novel, “good writing” in this scenario shares a lot of the same characteristics we can expect from the sparse prose of novelists...
Although many other aspects of API documentation might seem more pressing, such as configuring your publishing toolchain, writing is still a core task technical writers do when creating API documentation.Sections: Overview of the writing process 1. Planning 2. Information gathering 3. Writing 4. ...
Good API documentation describes its endpoints, explains why you’d use them, and offers very specific examples of how you’d use them — all in a way that’s accessible to both beginners and more advanced users. Bad API documentation is overly technical ...
And if you’re doing any technical writing, consider checking outtechnical writing softwareto make the writing process go smoother and achieve more precise results. Looking for a better way to document your processes?Process documentation templatescan guide you in the right direction (and make your...
There’s a reason technical documentation is usually not written by developers themselves – it’s the job of technical writers, experts in translating tech aspects into a readable format. But even technical writers tend to leak a bit of jargon into the text. ...