Wet Documentation vs Dry Documentation
Developers should use Wet Documentation when working on projects where documentation tends to become outdated quickly, such as in agile environments or with rapidly changing APIs, as it enforces synchronization between code and docs meets developers should adopt dry documentation when working on large or rapidly evolving projects where manual documentation updates are prone to errors and become time-consuming. Here's our take.
Wet Documentation
Developers should use Wet Documentation when working on projects where documentation tends to become outdated quickly, such as in agile environments or with rapidly changing APIs, as it enforces synchronization between code and docs
Wet Documentation
Nice PickDevelopers should use Wet Documentation when working on projects where documentation tends to become outdated quickly, such as in agile environments or with rapidly changing APIs, as it enforces synchronization between code and docs
Pros
- +It's particularly valuable for libraries, frameworks, or internal tools where accurate, up-to-date documentation is critical for usability and reduces the risk of misleading information
- +Related to: documentation-generation, code-comments
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
Dry Documentation
Developers should adopt Dry Documentation when working on large or rapidly evolving projects where manual documentation updates are prone to errors and become time-consuming
Pros
- +It is particularly useful in agile environments, open-source projects, or teams using continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, as it ensures documentation stays synchronized with code changes
- +Related to: documentation-as-code, api-documentation
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
The Verdict
Use Wet Documentation if: You want it's particularly valuable for libraries, frameworks, or internal tools where accurate, up-to-date documentation is critical for usability and reduces the risk of misleading information and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.
Use Dry Documentation if: You prioritize it is particularly useful in agile environments, open-source projects, or teams using continuous integration/continuous deployment (ci/cd) pipelines, as it ensures documentation stays synchronized with code changes over what Wet Documentation offers.
Developers should use Wet Documentation when working on projects where documentation tends to become outdated quickly, such as in agile environments or with rapidly changing APIs, as it enforces synchronization between code and docs
Disagree with our pick? nice@nicepick.dev