Formal Technical Writing vs Informal Documentation

Developers should learn formal technical writing to improve collaboration, ensure project clarity, and enhance product usability, as it is essential for creating documentation that supports software development, maintenance, and user adoption meets developers should use informal documentation to facilitate team collaboration, onboard new members, and document ad-hoc decisions or code rationale that don't fit into formal specs. Here's our take.

Formal Technical Writing

Nice Pick

Developers should learn formal technical writing to improve collaboration, ensure project clarity, and enhance product usability, as it is essential for creating documentation that supports software development, maintenance, and user adoption

Pros

• It is particularly valuable in roles involving API design, open-source contributions, or regulated industries where precise communication is critical for compliance and safety
• Related to: api-documentation, user-manuals

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Informal Documentation

Developers should use informal documentation to facilitate team collaboration, onboard new members, and document ad-hoc decisions or code rationale that don't fit into formal specs

Pros

• It's particularly valuable in agile environments, open-source projects, or when rapid iteration makes formal documentation impractical, as it reduces knowledge silos and improves code maintainability
• Related to: documentation-writing, code-comments

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Formal Technical Writing is a concept while Informal Documentation is a methodology. We picked Formal Technical Writing based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Formal Technical Writing wins

Based on overall popularity. Formal Technical Writing is more widely used, but Informal Documentation excels in its own space.