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Subject:Re: Knowing prog. lang. +s to a TW's $? From:Deborah Meltzer <deborah -at- STARQUEST -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 13 Jan 1997 13:58:22 PST
>>Please say it ain't so! How can one even begin to address the needs of the
>>audience without working with the application or equipment?
>>
>>Do many of you write documents without using the equipment or application?
>
>
>I didn't think I could even do such a thing, and had considered not even
>taking the job, but I'm glad I did. It isn't easy, but it IS possible.
>
Most of my projects have involved writing documentation without using the
application. Often when you are writing for a developer audience, many of
the tasks and functionality involved remain abstract. Initially, this is a
very difficult task to pull off. Intensive, focused interviews with
engineers, reading previous documentation about the product and its
peripherals (if such documentation exists) have been my primary methods of
coming to understand the products and how they work. When I do have the
occasional project now in which I can actually get my hands on the
application, the task of documentation has been relatively easy. I guess
it's a little like learning calculus and then doing some basic geometry for
dessert. So as Barb says, it CAN be done. And it can even be done well.
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=
Deborah Meltzer
StarQuest Software, Inc.
email: deborah -at- starquest -dot- com
voice: 510/704-2554
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