RE: Difference between developer guide content and reference information

["Matt Horn" <mhorn -at- macromedia -dot- com>]

One way to think of a developer guide is like one of the O'Reilly
cookbooks. There, the authors really illustrate how parts of the system
work together to solve a common problem.

In a reference guide, most of the parts (maybe, classes) are presented
on their own and it's up to the reader to put the ideas together... In
other words, it's best not to "read" a reference guide, but rather to
refer to it. :)

Another thing to think about is that some of the functionality you've
described as being in a developer guide might better be used in a
separate administrator's guide. For example, security and configuration.
Also, server admins often want architectural information as well so they
can see how well the product plays with other products on the system.

Matthew Horn
Sr. Technical Writer
< m a c r o m e d i a >

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