Lorna Mitchell: Writing Documentation Engineers Will Actually Read

Join Robby as he chats with Lorna Mitchell, open source advocate and technical writer, about the art of creating documentation that doesn’t gather dust. Lorna shares her experiences as a maintainer of the open source project RST2PDF, the value of API governance, and how documentation bridges gaps in developer experience.

Highlights:

• What Makes Software Maintainable: Characteristics like great documentation, automated tests, and onboarding ease.
• Documentation's Role in Long-Lived Software: Why it’s crucial for internal tools and open source projects alike.
• Open Source in Practice: Lorna’s journey with RST2PDF and adopting a tech stack she wasn’t initially fluent in.
• API Governance Simplified: Lorna explains the four levels of API readiness and how teams can work toward more usable APIs.
• Writing Documentation for Engineers: How style guides can empower contributors without overwhelming them.
• Using Tools to Improve Documentation: From linters to prose-checking tools like Veil, Lorna discusses practical tips.

Key Takeaways:

• [00:01:00] What makes software well-maintained: documentation, accessibility, and automated tests.
• [00:03:10] Why documentation isn’t just for new users—Lorna’s experience with revisiting her own open source projects.
• [00:06:30] Diving into rst2pdf: Challenges in maintaining an abandoned project.
• [00:13:45] Balancing ownership and transitioning open source projects to new maintainers.
• [00:15:30] What is OpenAPI, and how does API governance impact usability?
• [00:26:10] The art of concise yet helpful documentation for different audiences.
• [00:33:00] Using examples in APIs to enhance clarity and reduce confusion.
• [00:40:00] Tools for improving writing, from prose linters to markdown syntax checkers.

Resources Mentioned:

• Lorna Mitchell’s Website
• rst2pdf Project
• Simon Willison’s Post on One-Person Projects
• How to Take Smart Notes
• OpenAPI Specification
• Veil Prose Linter

Follow Lorna:

• GitHub
• IndieWeb

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error-tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and other frameworks.

It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications.

Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time! 

Use the code maintainable to get a 10% discount for your first year. Check them out!

Subscribe to Maintainable on:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify

Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.

Keep up to date with the Maintainable Podcast by joining the newsletter.