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programming-for-dummies

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Writing Software Documentation<br />

Help files can be read like a book, browsed through like a dictionary, or<br />

searched like a search engine that returns pages of related in<strong>for</strong>mation. Like<br />

ordinary user manuals, help files often require the aid of programmers to<br />

explain and verify that the explanations in the help files are accurate and<br />

complete.<br />

To make creating help files easier, many programmers use special help file<br />

creation programs, which can turn an ordinary user manual into a help file.<br />

By using such tools, programmers don’t have to create user manuals and<br />

help files separately; they can just create a user manual and then turn that<br />

user manual into a help file. Ultimately, any <strong>for</strong>m of documentation is meant<br />

to help explain what a program does and how it works. When writing documentation<br />

<strong>for</strong> your program, make it easy on yourself and write as little as<br />

possible while trying to be as complete as possible. It’s not an easy task, but<br />

it’s a necessary one.

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