The Simplest Guide to Writing Great Documentation
Writing documentation has never been easy, not even for developers who love sharing their knowledge. It’s one thing to build a software tool, but explaining it to others in a way that’s simple and clear is a whole different challenge. One common mistake in writing documentation is approaching it from a position of expertise. This means the person writing forgets how it feels to know nothing about the topic and ends up skipping essential details that new users actually need.
Let’s focus on the main challenges people face when making great documentation and how to solve them step by step.
Good documentation is more than just nice to have—it’s a powerful way to spread knowledge. For development teams, clear documentation keeps everyone aligned, helps make decisions visible, and ensures no one has to reinvent the wheel when new people join. For users, it saves time. Poor documentation, on the other hand, leads to confusion, support tickets, and more work for everyone involved.
Nearly every developer agrees that reading someone else’s source code is harder than writing your own. If there’s no documentation, developers are left spending hours or even days figuring out how something works by reading the code itself. That’s why good documentation is foundational to making your tool or library accessible. If you want people to use what you’ve built, adding proper documentation isn’t optional—it’s essential.
Common Problems with Documentation
Some key issues make documentation harder to use or less helpful for others:
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Lack of a Learning Path: Many tutorials and guides throw users into advanced concepts without building a foundation. This makes it harder for beginners to follow along. The best documentation starts by teaching basic concepts in order and then builds up layer by layer.
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Skipping First Principles: Documentation often assumes readers already know some background information, which isn’t always the case. A good guide starts from ground zero and ensures no prior knowledge is taken for granted.
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Not Enough Examples: Code examples are crucial for understanding how something works. Without clear examples of how to apply what’s being taught, concepts stay abstract and
