• Boomer Humor Doomergod
    link
    English
    647 months ago

    It’s also why the humanities are important. Stemlords who brag about not doing literature classes write terrible documentation.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      337 months ago

      My CS major required me to take two upper division English classes and I think they helped me more in my career than my upper division CS classes. People forget that documentation is for ourselves too

      • Boomer Humor Doomergod
        link
        English
        137 months ago

        I’m really thankful that I had a great English teacher in high school, and that my degree required a technical writing class. Being able to write a coherent email got me further in my career than the technical stuff I learned in college.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          57 months ago

          I completely agree. Most peer feedbacks that I get mention my documentation. It has helped me so much

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      137 months ago

      I think this is why the “my code documents itself” attitude appeals, even though it’s almost never enough. Most developers just can’t write, nor do they want to.

      • Boomer Humor Doomergod
        link
        English
        67 months ago

        The problem with “It’s self-documenting” is that there are inevitably questions about what it says, and there’s no additional resources to pull from.

      • JackbyDev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        17 months ago

        “my code documents itself” and “no, our CI system doesn’t upload the source jars to Artifactory, why?”

    • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝
      link
      fedilink
      English
      37 months ago

      Maybe, just maybe, people have different strengths and weaknesses and cooperating around our differences is what makes us succeed.

      • Boomer Humor Doomergod
        link
        English
        147 months ago

        If you know your weakness is writing documentation, please hire a technical writer.

        • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝
          link
          fedilink
          English
          117 months ago

          That’s exactly what I’m saying, sorry if it came across somehow askew.

          My point was there is no point in competing over whose job is “better”, we should be working together.

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            57 months ago

            There is a case to be made that people should be a bit more well rounded in general, and not just find a specific niche.

            So non-technical people should still have a decent familiarity with computers and maybe be able to do some very basic coding. And technical people should spend some time working on their written and verbal communication.

            Because in both cases, it makes people more effective in their roles.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          4
          edit-2
          7 months ago

          Most open source projects rely on volunteers, and few technical writers volunteer.

          • Boomer Humor Doomergod
            link
            English
            27 months ago

            Totally agree. And I’d argue that we don’t even need technical writers. Even if all people do is correct grammar and spelling mistakes it would be helpful, let alone actually writing docs. It’s one of the easiest ways non-technical folks can get involved with open source projects.

            • JackbyDev
              link
              fedilink
              English
              27 months ago

              Every time I get stuck on something confusing I’m a README and figure it out I try to submit a patch that makes it more explicit.

      • Natanael
        link
        fedilink
        English
        37 months ago

        Robots can definitely flip burgers.

        Some can even do it twice!