API Documentation vs Code Comments

Developers should learn API documentation skills when building or consuming APIs, as it enables clear communication of API capabilities and requirements meets developers should use code comments to improve code readability, facilitate team collaboration, and aid in future maintenance, especially in complex or non-intuitive sections. Here's our take.

API Documentation

Nice Pick

Developers should learn API documentation skills when building or consuming APIs, as it enables clear communication of API capabilities and requirements

Pros

• It is crucial for public APIs to attract developers, internal APIs to facilitate team collaboration, and microservices architectures to ensure interoperability
• Related to: openapi-specification, rest-api

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Code Comments

Developers should use code comments to improve code readability, facilitate team collaboration, and aid in future maintenance, especially in complex or non-intuitive sections

Pros

• They are essential for documenting APIs, explaining algorithms, noting edge cases, and providing context for legacy code, which reduces onboarding time and prevents errors during modifications
• Related to: code-documentation, clean-code

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use API Documentation if: You want it is crucial for public apis to attract developers, internal apis to facilitate team collaboration, and microservices architectures to ensure interoperability and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use Code Comments if: You prioritize they are essential for documenting apis, explaining algorithms, noting edge cases, and providing context for legacy code, which reduces onboarding time and prevents errors during modifications over what API Documentation offers.

The Bottom Line

API Documentation wins

Developers should learn API documentation skills when building or consuming APIs, as it enables clear communication of API capabilities and requirements