#1 How Does a Non-Developer Learn to Write Developer Documentation? Let’s find out! (JavaScript: First Thoughts)
I‘m a copywriter who writes content for the general public, but I want to become a technical writer who writes documentation specifically for software developers. This is my educational journey…
I have a history as a copywriter and news-editor in the tech-industry, and I am in love with websites, start-ups, applications, crowdsourcing platforms, virtual reality, computational linguistics, AI, and a lot of other things that rely on software developers to see the light of day. So, when I decided to go to grad school to learn how to become a technical writer, I knew who I wanted to write for; I wanted to write for the magic makers, the programmers!
Learning to Think Like a Software Developer
However, I realized that you can’t write for a particular audience if you don’t know their language or how they spend their time. That is why, on top of taking courses on technical writing, I am teaching myself programming, the agile development culture, what makes documentation good/valuable, and everything I can about API’s, SDK’s, and software development, etc.
Internships will play a big role in my journey once I have enough skills under my belt to contribute meaningfully to a web dev shop or other organization. Please contact me if you’re interested!
My first concrete step has been learning JavaScript via training modules I found on FreeCodeCamp.org. I’ve completed around 45 short JavaScript exercises, and, as someone new to programming, here are my thoughts so far:
1. Code Samples
As an aspiring API writer, I’ve read that code samples are a big deal, and now that I’m doing simple programming exercises, I’m starting to understand why. When you’re programming, you want to jump in and start coding.
Any words you encounter on your path to creating a functioning program do not feel like they are there to help you. They feel like hurdles you have to jump over before you are allowed to do the ‘real’ work.
I felt this way, and I love words and writing! I can only imagine how others feel.
2. Time, Attention, and Memory
I read recently that when programmers are interrupted, it takes them a long time to get back to work. Any interruption can break down the mental model they have going in their head of of how the programming logic for the app or feature is going.
At the base of this, I suspect this is about the highly sequential and grammatical nature of programming languages. This shows me that programming is demanding of focus (time and attention), and it shows me that a strong working memory is necessary to write code at a fast pace. The learning modules confirmed my suspicion.
This is one reason I have been driven away from programming in the past. When it comes to sequential information such as cooking instructions, dance steps, or remembering arbitrary numbers and formulas, I am not your man!
However, I have found a way around this challenge as you will see in thought #4.
3. The Value of Drag-and-Drop/WYSIWYG editors…
Although I am only just beginning to learn programming, I have been actively using WYSIWYG editors for almost a decade, and in the past few years, with the help of Bubble.is, I have been able to create some pretty complicated apps. For an example of how powerful it is, I invite you to read this article about one man who rebuilt the Twitter platform in just a few days without using one line of code. Wix recently came out with similar technology.
I am currently building a complex crowdsourcing/crowdfunding platform with these tools. It’s a platform that allows people to do tasks online to earn money for nonprofits building portable homeless shelters. You can find the coming-soon page here.
In short, even after only learning a few basic programming skills, I can see the value of just being able to manipulate visual elements and use a GUI to create workflows, and set up databases, etc. confirmed tenfold.
4. Mnemonics
I can already tell that programming languages and logic are formulaic, and it’s obvious, right off the bat, that there are a lot of rules. Therefore, I think it might be the perfect subject for me to use the same trick that got me through college algebra and other memory heavy subjects, etc. Mnemonics!
In short, once I learn what sticks and what does not in my memory when it comes to JavaScript, I will use memory techniques such as a custom-made images, sentences, visual images/thoughts, and drawings that will help me access specific information as I need it to recall things.
For an example of mnemonics in action, here is one story I can share: When I tried to memorize the international phonetic alphabet for a linguistics course, I was batting zero. Then, I decided to just memorize a large drawing I made with individual components that would tell me the answer if I looked a little closer and thought about each one. In the end, I aced the exam!
Since I know ahead of time that learning JavaScript will be difficult for me, I am going to prepare to use mnemonics as much as I can (to make sure it sticks).
I hope to have some examples for you of this in blogpost # 2.
Stay tuned…
