Why Documentation Is Very Important for Software Development?

Software development comes with series of steps for programmers to come up with computer programming. The process makes up with phases in the software development life cycle.

In the IT industry if you have a better understanding related to software development then you will get vast opportunities. It’s very important to hire the best web development service provider for your business.

What is Software Development?

Software development is mainly a process programmer that is used to build computer programs. This process is even known as the software development life cycle (SDLC). This even includes a lot of phrases that come up with building products that meet technical specifications and user requirements.

With the help of SDLC, the software companies can use to improve and build computer programs as it provides international standard. It comes with a proper structure for the development team that they can follow in the creation, design, and maintenance of high-quality software. The main aim of all IT software development is to provide high quality in a given budget and timeline. The Custom software development company will understand your requirement and will suggest the best in your time and budget.

Key Steps in the Software Development Process:

Below are some of the steps in the software development life cycle:

• Needs Identification: This is mainly the proper market research and brainstorming stage of the process. Before a firm builds software it is very important to go through proper market research to determine the viability of the product. To attract the target audience the developers must work on the function and service they will provide. In the survey target audience will find it useful and necessary.

There are so many things that can be done to get more information. This even includes taking surveys from the existing and potential customers. The strategy needs to be discussed with the IT team so that they will tell the strength, weakness, threat, and opportunity of that particular product. The software development can only proceed if the parameter of the product is satisfied with the necessary for its success.

• Requirement Analysis: in the software development life cycle this is the second phase. In this stage, the stakeholders agree on the user requirement and technical specification of the given product to achieve the goal. The whole detailed outline is giving in every component, the tasks, and the scope of the development and tests the parameter to deliver good quality products.

In this, the requirement analysis stage comes with users, developers, project managers, testers, and quality assurance. This is the place where the software development chooses the programmer's approach towards it. Here software requirement specification documentation is done so that the team can consult once the project is implementing.

• Design: This is the third stage of the software development process. Here an advanced technical specification is drawn up by the developers and architects that they need to complete the software requirements. Then the stockholders will discuss some of the important things such as team composition, risk level, time, budget, applicable technologies, method, architectural design, and project limitations.

The design specification document (DSD) mainly specifies the architectural design, communication, components, front-end representation, and even the user flows of the product. This even provides a template for the developers and testers that reduce the chances of delays and flaws in the finished products.

• Development and Implementation: For the design parameters it is the next step that is development and implementation. The developers come with the codebase depending on the product specification and requirement that was discussed before. Then the company comes up with the guidelines, and procedures for the front-end developers to build interfaces and back ends while database administrators create relevant data in the database. The best web development company has proper knowledge and experience in this field.

The programmers even test and review the codes among them so that they can proceed with the best. Once the developers are done with the coding then they proceed with the implementation stage. This helps in allowing coming up with the pilot version of the programming to make performance match the requirement properly.

• Testing: in this stage, the software is checked if there are any bugs and verifies its performance before delivering to the users. In this stage, whole product functions are tested properly to make sure that it performs as it was decided. Most of the testers use exploratory testing if there is a need for experience with the software. The test script will help in validating the performance of an individual component of the software.

If there is any defect in the code then it will get notified to the developers. If the flaws are valid that is confirmed then the things will be maintained and improve the program. after this, the tester repeats the whole process until the software is free of any type of bugs and comes up with the right requirements.

• Deployment and Maintenance: once the software is free from bugs then it can be handed over or delivered to the customers. Once the software production version is realized the IT software development company can create maintenance team management. Updates are very important in any software this will help the customer engagement high.

The evaluation and the changes that software came up with are inevitable. The maintenance consumes almost 70% of the life cycle cost of the software project. To keep the software alive maintenance plays a critical role. The act of reading code is one of the time-consuming components of all to maintain the activities that are performed by the software developers. The SaaS Software Development provides development, design, debugging, unit testing, and integration.

Readability mainly means natural language that how much the text is easy to understand. Whereas in literature the readability is mainly judged by its metrics like the average sentence length, average syllables per word, etc. if the readability level is increased then it can make a huge difference between the success and the failure in the communication goals. Most of the programs must be written for the people to read and only incidentally for the executing the machine.

What is Software Documentation?

This is mainly a written material, video, image instruction that comes with computer software. The software documentation helps in explaining how to use a service or a program. There is a mainly different type of software documentation such as:

• Requirements documentation
• Architecture documentation
• Technical documentation
• End-user documentation

In some companies, there is some special team who take care of the technical writing such as a documentation team. Responsive web design services are in high demand.

Source Code is Not Documentation:

The Software developers treat source code as the primary or even as only documentation. For the manifest in practice, the code has to be sufficiently precise and detailed. The original form of source code is not readable as plain text. To make software accessible and maintained readability plays an important role. The documentation should be easy to understand when it is written and not just by immediate team members by even by the future stakeholders. Below are some of the examples that will explain why it is important.

• When interfacing is done by the external model then the consumer should understand the exposed interfaces by the existing module.
• To extend a module the existing models and the concepts need to be understood in detail.
• Detail documentation plays a critical role when it comes to fixing a bug or a patch to be fixed faster.

When the documentation is needed to be effective then it must be maintained along with the code itself. The documentation reflects can be changed as well when it comes to refactoring code. When the code is updated the tracking can be changed into the documentation that all seasoned engineering teams put.

How to Write Good Documentation?

When writing documentation, it is essential to follow three golden rules that you need to ask yourself while writing comments:

• What actually the code does?
• How does it do it?
• How someone can use the same somewhere else?

In the merge process always remember to treat comments as a part of the source code. One takeaway from the post is treated as documentation equally as a source code as a part of the review process. The embedded documentation will help the programmers to understand thoroughly and stay with the context. The developers have to make sure that the code they write should be easily understandable, readable, and clear.

Some teams prefer to skip the code documentation part to save money, effort, and time. Because one of this mistake it can result in more significant expenses once the product is transferred to the team or when a proper update is required.

Reliable documentation is very important for the entire programmer. The documentation presentation helps in keeping track of all the aspects of an application and it improves the quality of the software product. The main focuses are maintenance, development, and knowledge transfer to the other developers. You can hire website development services for developing your website with documentation.

For creating successful documentation it is essential to have an easily accessible, provide a limited number of user entry points that helps new users learn quickly, simplify the product and help in saving cost. Documentation focuses on the following components as Business rules, server environments, databases or files, application installation, troubleshooting, and code deployment.

• Server Environments: When creating an application it’s very important to have detailed documentation for the application and its environment. The information will help in setting up new environments for the application and it should be presented with its location and the function of the system that runs your service. Some things should be specified here such as server name, URL to the application, IP, application name and their version, user account information, operating system, and a point of contact.
• Business Rules: the business rules documentation helps the new additions to the team to adapt faster working habits of the company. This helps in giving information about how actually the products work and why. To support the business rules documentation it will require only documents if available. This even helps in speeding up the development of learning significantly. In addition to the business rules, FAQs, help document, or user guide can even help the developer for the important points of an application for the developers who need context to support the application.
• Database/Files: For reverting, migrating, porting, and sharing and so on database information is very important and mandatory. It’s very important to note down the server information, type of database, the version but most importantly to have a data model diagram. The database documentation will bring modifications to the structure and types, the table, keys, and additions of indexes, and much more. All of this is very easier and simpler to debug and control. If the application is coming up with the file transfer feature then it is very important to document the way the transfer is made, which database and protocol, and the exact SSL certificates are needed.
• Troubleshooting: When running into production issues troubleshooting documentation helps a lot. When there is troubleshooting most of the technical issues come with error code that will help in solving. In this type of documentation, there should be an FAQ section with usual and general problems. This error should be arranged in different types such as the type of error, level of error, and a module where the error comes from. Here you need to add the expectation, critical, warning, etc.
• Application Installation: when the developers need to set up an additional or new application environment when it is useful to configuration and installation documentation. The process should be detailed if required you can even add or include screenshots. This should help the consumer to install the application easily. These steps will help the installer to prevent all the problems because of the missing parts of an application. In the details, you can mention libraries, necessary software, and application server versions this will even ensure the environment will be compatible and set up as intended.

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• Code: The backbone of every application is code documentation. The code documentation can even be spat in multiple parts. Comment blocks are helpful for programmers. This can be found in a file explaining classes, parameters, methods, possible errors. After this specific file documentations which is generated with the help of a third-party script that will be based on the common blocks, an explicit PDF will be created. There should be information regarding the code repository where the file update is found, and it needs to be moved. There is should be step-by-step instructions on how to create an application package or build to be deployed.

All the above-mentioned documents should be available for the developer team members who are working on the project. This can be placed in the document sharing portal for access control, easy access, and version control. If there are any changes made it is very important to update and come up with enhancements and processes that are added to the application.

When all the documents are available this will make the maintenance and development more efficient. To get proper speed in the new project you can start working on the Segue for the new project. You can even use the documentation on the places where necessary.

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Why Documentation Matters and Why It Should Be Added to the Code?

When it comes to software development there is always a plethora. DRY, KISS, SOLID, etc but when it comes to commenting or documenting the code there is no simple catchphrase. Documentation is one of the important parts of the development and it helps in becoming a better developer and works with the team. Because of the time the code is not documented. Within a certain time frame, a developer has to develop a feature. There is no moment there is a need to stop and document everything related to code.

The codes are needed to be reviewed, unit tests, and automation tests apart from writing, and designing. Documentation is given the least attention which is not right. Documentation is one of the best solutions that can help you in feature if you want to make any changes. It’s very important to take out the extra time to write a proper description that will help in saving a huge amount in the future.

Documentation Will Make Coding Easy:

If anyone wants to understand what exactly happens inside your coding then all you have to do is point them to the documentation. This will help in saving a lot of time as they don’t have to depend on you. If being a developer if you want to understand anything then this even helps you a lot.

• The codes that are used in creating features are very complicated. When looking at one section of code may not make it clear several other sections are deeply linked to it.
• All the service comes with a unique API with it. Documentation is needed when writing how to use those API that can be read outside the code.
• The co-workers in another department can even read the documentation and can know how it works properly.
• The code you wrote will help in act differently when you look at it. You can even change things if they don’t meet your expectations.

How to Write Good Documentation?

Writing good documentation is like a good block of code. So, it should be simple, short, and easy to understand. Below are few guidelines that you can follow when you are documenting codes:

• First, it is very important to understand who the documentation is aimed at. Is the documentation is only for developers? Is this for a broader audience? When you understand this it will help you save a lot of time as you can understand how much you need to elaborate or explain.

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• Always write short and descriptive background that will help in explaining the main point of what exactly you built. This will even help the readers to understand the purpose of ascertaining, and feature it is relevant to what exactly they want to know.
• Always list down and describe the main perspective of your features. Make sure that you point out any dependencies that may exist with the other features.
• Make sure that there is always a timestamp to make the reader understand the time limit or validity of the documentation. If you are using some libraries the make sure that you even include their version as well.
• It’s very important to be generous with the coding example by detailing how to use the features properly. By writing and showcasing the expected results.

The documentation provides a written account of activities as they happen. This will help when it is becoming hard for you to remember when time passes. It is also a written proof that something was said or done. Documentation helps in giving the ability to have another account of a situation. One of the importance of software documentation is that it contains all the information related to the software system. The information helps in reproduce the software or adapting the maintenance. It is like professional communication related to a product or service.

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Conclusion:

Documentation is essential for software development as it is seen in any situation that there is an application but there is no help file with it and there is no much time to write complete documentation. There are several benefits of documentation some of them are you can easily preserve the information of the system in the different cycles so that you can remember when you need them again for any changes. The main objective of the documentation is to teach those who are unfamiliar with the whole system.