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OOP Writers (Don Sargent and Jane Torpie Comments)
Subject:OOP Writers (Don Sargent and Jane Torpie Comments) From:Harold Henke <hessian -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 3 Nov 1994 09:17:42 MST
I second Jane's comments and also want to throw in the cliche:
"Who is your audience?". If you are describing a software development
tool for programmers that enables them to create OOP products, then
I think a background in OOP is good, as your audience will understand
(expect) OOP terms. If you are documenting an
application that uses OOP, such as a backup and retrieval storage
system, then a large portion of your audience will not be familiar with
OOP terms (nor care). They just want to perform a specific task and are not
interested in the technology that enables them to perform the task.
And besides, where are you going to find writers who have "much" experience
with Object-Oriented Programming? They are harder to find than programmers.
Matter of fact, I am looking (lurking?) around for some articles on using
OOP terms in documentation. So far, I have not found any articles. And
since technical writers are quite prolific about writing journal articles
on the newest technology craze, this tells me our collective experience
in documenting OOP applications is limited.
Harold Henke
Information Developer
IBM, Boulder, CO
Have pen, will travel
