by bluephin

Created on: May 19, 2008

Software development is such a complex process. From inception, development, testing, deployment and maintenance, there is always a possibility of errors and more and more things to make note of so there is something to go back to in the future.

One key to a successful software development, aside from an efficient and competitive team of developers is a good set of documentation. As there are different steps in software development, it also follows that there are different kinds of documentations used for each stage (sometimes more than one at each stage).

In a general aspect, documentation is integral for a couple of reasons:
Documentations are used as a reference for everybody involved in and affected by the software.
Documentations serve as a guideline to follow on each developmental stage.
Documentations set out the formality of the development process.

Each type of documentation has its importance in the whole process. The architecture or design documentation layouts the general requirements, purpose and existence of the software. It also shows how the particular software is tied up with any other software if such relationship exists. With such a draft, the users, developers and every body concerned with the creation of the software would know what the scope of the software is, meaning what is and is not included in its features. In this way, developers are protected against additional requests that are primarily not in the original scope of the project. There is nothing worse than starting on a project with requirements blown out of proportion.

A technical documentation aids a smooth turnover (if necessary). In software development, it is an accepted fact that not all developers are present from the start to the end of the development stage. Especially for complex systems, it is a good practice to document a programming and development guideline, a change management and comments on the code as you go along (although the last one should be done to a minimum, still it does help). A programming guideline will help standardize the way the code is written. Each programmer has their own way of writing out the logic, but with a standard to follow in naming variables, procedures, parameters and modules among others, a new programmer who will jump in into the team will have not much difficulty in coping and following through. Less slack time contributes immensely on the pace of the development and productivity of the team. In addition, this can also aid in software

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