The mistake most devs make when trying to document their project is that they only make one (maybe two) types of documentation based on a readme template and/or what their mental model of a newcomer needs.

Devs need to be actively taught that:

  1. Good documentation isn’t one thing, it’s four. To have good documentation, you need all four distinct types of documentation.
  2. What the four types of documentation are (this is discussed in the link)

If you don’t have all four types of documentation, you have bad documentation.

  • spartanatreyu@programming.devOP
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    The good thing about the JS ecosystem is that almost everything in the last few years is written in typescript.

    Just by typing in the name of the function and opening the first parenthesis, you’re getting type information right there.

    For example, typing:

    globalTestSetup(
    

    Presents a modal showing:

    globalTestSetup(options: { page: Page, slow?: boolean, locale?: string } );
    
    • torturedllama@lemmy.nz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Mm indeed. Types to the rescue.

      Are there any projects/tools that turn the types into Java-style web html documentation? If you need to know something while you’re working on a non-typescript project that could be more convenient.