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I recently received the two books Gordon & Gordon
wrote for technical writers. While I found "System
Design for Technical Writers" to be helpful, I was
less pleased with "Documenting APIs and SDKs." That's
not to say that the material wasn't comprehensive or
that that class wouldn't have been *great*; it's just
that I was expecting quite a bit more for $85. With no
prior API writing experience, the book (which is
really a PowerPoint presentation in GBC binding
without speaker notes) is really just a guide for the
class.
Now that I'm actually starting to document SDKs and
APIs, the workbook will prove handy, buy it's not the
best starting place for a newbie. IMHO.
There was a long thread on this subject about a month
ago; if you search the archives for APIs you should
get a ton of hits. If I can find the messages I
received from the TECHWR-Lers who responded to my
questions, I'll forward them to you.
Meanwhile, here are a couple sites I found helpful
I don't know your background, but if you go this
route, you will have to know some code. Either C or
Java is a pretty good place to start. For less than
$10 pick up "The Elements of Java Style" for an
excellent intro to OOP.
HTH
Kelly
P.S. Feel free to contact me for more details, but
please e-mail me and not the list, as I am on digest.
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