The modern era marks the rapid development of software and hardware technologies. The demand for documentation has also increased. When the requirement was created, it was only human to do it. This is the reason why developers have come up with automatic documentation tools or vice versa the tool has made them smart to document manually. There are many tools that can be used to document code.
Documentation is an important part of a software development project. Documentation provides information that helps users, developers, and system administrators to learn the details of various aspects of the software project. Code documentation tools can help you to have a consistent approach to documenting code.
You’ve spent a lot of time writing your code, but have you spent time documenting it? Keeping documentation up to date has never really been that high on the priority list for most developers. However as your app grows, and especially if you’re working in a team – it’s worth making sure that everything is clear and documented properly. This article will take you through some of the tools and best practices to document your code properly.
Learn the ins and outs of documenting code, with tools to help you boost productivity and make your life easier. This guide will show you how to document code, specifically showing off the tools available to developers and how they streamline this process. We also run through case studies where documentation has helped developers overcome bad practices that hurt their workflow.
What is software documentation?
“Documentation in software engineering is the umbrella term that encompasses all written documents and materials dealing with a software product’s development and use” – Prototype.io, Software Documentation Types and Best Practices
All pieces of software should have some form of documentation that explains, in detail, what the product is, how it works, and why it works that way.
“If it isn’t documented, it doesn’t exist” – Sitepoint, A Guide to Writing Your First Software Documentation
As a developer, your main aim is to write the best code you possibly can. You want your code to be best in class, easy to read, easy to use, and you want great things to happen as a result of it. Right?
But without documenting what you’ve done and why you’ve done it:
- No one else can use your code but you
Without documentation, no one will understand what you’ve done and why you’ve done it. It’ll be incredibly difficult, nigh-on impossible, for someone else to pick up your code and work on it. They might even scrap it and start again, as, in some cases that would be quicker than trying to work out what you’ve done and why.
- You can’t update or improve it
Can you remember what you ate for dinner on Saturday, three months ago? Unless you’re a complete creature of habit, chances are you can’t. So it’s fair to say you probably won’t remember the code you wrote, two, three, four months after you did it. If you can’t remember the reasons behind your coding decisions, then you will struggle to be able to update or improve it.
Despite this, software documentation is often a task that gets rushed, done badly, deprioritized, or totally forgotten about.
Before we start talking about what tools you can use to write software documentation, we need to think of a way to make sure the task gets done in the first place.
This is where Process Street can help.
Process Street is a piece of business process management (BPM) software that can be used to create, manage, and follow processes.
More about what Process Street is later, for now, let me show you how you can use it as a tool to help you fit software documentation into every software development project you work on.
Below is an example of a pre-made Software Deployment Process template. This template was created to help software engineers and programmers deploy their software in the best way possible.
To get this template, either log in and add it to your dashboard, or sign up for a free trial.
This template is a perfect example of a process that you can follow every time you want to deploy a new or updated piece of code.
It has clear steps that will guide you through the whole deployment process, from setting up a staging environment to putting your changes live. These steps will make sure nothing gets missed and that the entire process goes smoothly every single time.
We’ve designed this template to be used as a guide to help you create a deployment process that works for you. Every company is different, every software project is different, and every deployment process is different.
You can edit this process and add in the tasks that are relevant to you, your company, and your project.
Which brings me back to software documentation; you could add ‘software documentation’ as a task. That way, anyone working through the software deployment process will be reminded and encouraged to complete this, as part of the process.
I’ve got a few more premade process templates that might be of use to you, which I’ll include at the end of this post.
Before we get to that, let’s look at where you can store your software documentation.
Software documentation hosting options
It’s no good having just a bunch of text files living on your computer. They need to be accessible by developers and users, which you’re most likely going to do by hosting the docs on the internet since it isn’t the 1980s.
Process Street (for internal use)
For training new developers and keeping your documentation living all in the same place, Process Street is a solid choice for software documentation.
First, you could create a process for writing your documentation, to make sure you capture all the right details and make it as useful as possible.
Using the following easy-to-use features, you can then write up and store your documentation in one single place:
Storing your documentation within Process Street means it can be accessed by everyone in the company. You can share it with others, send it for approval, set reminders to review it, and update it easily.
LiveEdu
If you are reading this, you must be thinking how a social project broadcasting can be a tool for code documentation? The answer lies in the term, “Video code documentation.”
You can broadcast or store your project work directly on Livecoding. By doing this, you will be able to easily allow your team members access to important sections of the project. There are multiple benefits for using Livecoding as a tool to document your code. Some of them are mentioned below:
Video documentation benefits in a nutshell
- It enhances pure text-written documentation and gives better context and understanding to the reader.
- Agile teams can easily keep track of the project changes.
- Technical writers can utilize the video code documentation to understand the project better.
- Developers can invest their saved time in implementing other project functionalities.
Doxygen
Doxygen is a great tool for generating documentation from source code. The tool is aimed at C++, but it can also be used with PHP, Java, Python, etc. With the help of Doxygen, you can create online HTML documentation. It can also be used to generate output in multiple formats, including Unix man pages, PostScript, etc.
The biggest advantage of using Doxygen is that you will have consistency throughout your source code documentation. It can also help you to generate code structure using the undocumented source files. All you need to do is configure it accordingly.
Document360
Document360 is a documentation tool that helps companies in the process of software development by providing support with their processes and workflows.
Document360 provides support in the process of software development by helping companies with their processes and workflows. This documentation tool supports projects from conception to deployment, showing everyone on the team what’s coming next, who’s working with what, and when it’s due. Document360 is an innovative product designed to manage your documents.
UserGuiding is a site that allows users to create and share guides on any topic imaginable. The high demand for guides inspired the idea with deep insight into specific topics. Guides of this nature are often hard to find or expensive due to the immense time and effort it takes to compile such rich information.
UserGuiding can be used to turn software manuals into interactive guides, and the resource centers widget can be integrated with knowledge bases to offer in-app browsing of the knowledge base. With UserGuiding, you can create interactive guides for your software. Guides are an easier way to learn software than reading long manuals and help make the process of learning new software less painful.
With UserGuiding, you can create:
- Interactive Product Tours,
- Tooltips and Hotspots,
- User Onboarding Checklists,
- Resource Centers,
- NPS Surveys,
- And custom user segments.
Sphinx
Sphinx is a popular documentation tool for the programmers. It is available under BSD license and support multiple programming languages such as Python, C, and C++. Sphinx is ideal for developers who want to organize their documentation. It can be used for both project documentation and code documentation. Some features of Sphinx include extensive cross-references, multiple output formats, automatic indices, extension support, etc.
Whatfix
Whatfix is a Digital Adoption Platform that allows you to create step-by-step walkthroughs that act as real-time software documentation by guiding employees through your software. If you already have a knowledge base, you can display your documentation in a self-help widget.
Whatfix is redefining how software documentation is displayed and consumed, with new content embedded directly within your software applications in forms such as interactive guidance, contextual walkthroughs, self-help FAQs, popup notifications and beacons, and more. The platform also allows you to measure the usage and effectiveness of your documentation with user analytics.
Bit.ai
Bit.ai is a documentation collaboration platform that allows you to manage all of your documents in one place. It allows you to create notes, documents, and wikis, and you can manage your company’s documentation across teams or departments.
ProProfs
ProProfs knowledge base software is a knowledge management tool that lets you create searchable online FAQs and help docs. In addition, you can add videos, audio, images, and infographics to your documentation to make your software documentation more interactive and compelling.
ClickHelp
ClickHelp is a cloud-based documentation tool that helps your business create, manage and publish online help desk content. With ClickHelp, you can customize the reader experience with UI templates, visual settings, and CSS. ClickHelp is an online documentation tool that enables businesses and individuals to create, edit and share step-by-step guides. Now you can create helpful ‘how to’ guides for customers in a snap.
What You Get:
# Marketing-friendly Features
# No Installation or Server Setup Required
# Completely Cloud-Based Solution
Dropbox Paper
Dropbox Paper is an online document workspace that lets you organize and display text, media, and files all in one place. It’s a web-based tool, so it’s accessible as long as you have an internet connection. If you’re already a Dropbox user, you can create and edit documents without leaving Dropbox.
Alternatives:
What other tools are available in the Python ecosystem that help with documentation:
- The offical Python documentation pages use reStructuredText (as markup language) and Sphinx, (*I find Markdown a bit simpler than rST but it’s a personal choice)
- Doxygen —generates documentation from annotated sources
- Portray — Python3 command-line tool and library that helps you create great documentation websites for your Python projects with as little effort as possible
- Pycco — Python port of Docco: the original quick-and-dirty, hundred-line-long, literate-programming-style documentation generator. It produces HTML that displays your comments alongside your code.
Conclusion
Documenting your code is one of the best ways to make sure it’s easy to maintain and update. A wide variety of tools are available for different coding languages and development environments. Which of these tools, if any, you need depends on the size and complexity of your codebase and whether you’re creating documentation for internal or external users.
There’s nothing worse than encountering a bug because of lack of documentation. With these code documentation tools, you can write helpful comments and other developer notes that integrate seamlessly with your code, helping to prevent costly implementation errors.