Читать книгу Beginning Software Engineering - Stephens Rod - Страница 31

All the documentation described so far deals with building the application. It includes such items as requirements and design documents, code documentation and comments, meeting and phone call notes, and memos.

At some point you also need to prepare documentation that describes the application. Depending on the eventual number and kinds of users, you may need to write user manuals (for end users, managers, database administrators, and more), quick start guides, cheat sheets, user interface maps, training materials, and marketing materials. You may even need to write meta-training materials to teach the trainers how to train the end users. (No kidding, I’ve done it.)

In addition to basic printed versions, you may need to produce Internet, screencast, video, and multimedia versions of some of those documents. Producing this kind of documentation isn’t all that different from producing requirements documents. You can still store documents in an archive. (Although you may not be able to search for keywords in a video.)

Although creating this material is just another task, don’t start too late in the project schedule. If you wait until the last minute to start writing training materials, then the users won’t be able to use the application when it’s ready. (I remember one project where the requirements and user interface kept changing right up until the last minute. It was somewhat annoying to the developers, but it practically drove our lead trainer insane.)