I've said it before, I'll say it again...

[K Frame]

NEVER let a software developer write his own documentation.

12-page document.

I, as the technical writer/editor, have the option of accepting, accepting with revisions required, or rejecting a document during the editing process.

I rejected this one based on the introductory paragraph.

I just got off the first page -- 46 errors in grammar, spelling, or style, plus several technical errors/omissions. Of those roughly 55 errors, at least 12 are what can be considered to be critical or fatal errors.

Sigh.

[zahc]

haha. Good stuff. I'm a grammar nazi and admit it. My parents actually called me today to settle a conjugation argument. I go through the paper with a highlighter.

[K Frame]

I'm on page 3.

I'm going to break the son of a bitch's fingers so he can't type.

Here's another big reason why not to let developers write their own documentation...

Branching,  treeing, outlining, whatever the hell you want to call it...

On page three, we've dipped down, and I kid you not, to...

4.3.15.7.2.1

SIX LEVELS deep, when, by no stretch of the imagination did it need to be, or ever should have been, more than 2 levels deep.

I've stopped. I'm not wasting my time on this dreck.

I'm going to have a chat with my boss in the morning, and then we're both going to go and have a chat with the developer's team lead and their director, both of whom know better than to approve a *expletive deleted*ing disaster like this.

[jefnvk]

Good, because I don't like writing my own documentation.

[mtnbkr]

Smart man.  He's just reduced the amount of work he has to do by getting YOU to write his documentation.

Chris

[K Frame]

Unfortunately, fatboy, that's not the way it works in the group I'm now in.

Why, I don't know, but the developers are supposed to write their own documentation.

[280plus]

Hmmm, did I ever mention my wife's job is to make these programs crash after they're written and before they're launched. So I almost know what you're talking about.

And before we go any further please let me apologize for all past, present and future errors in spelling, grammar and style that may have occured in my ramblings.

I have to go look up conjugation now.

[Fly320s]

280plus,

It's an adult activity.  You probably shouldn't look it up at work.

[280plus]

LOL...

I'm in my home office and the cats are alllll away...



(edited to remove apostrophe from "cats")

[Standing Wolf]

NEVER let a software developer write his own documentation.

Actually, you'd probably be better off not letting software developers write software.

[jefnvk]

Actually, you'd probably be better off not letting software developers write software.

Cool, I really don't like doing that either

[RevDisk]

NEVER let a software developer write his own documentation.

Bingo.   That's almost as bad as asking the geeks to give a speech to the bosses.  Bad idea.


I once had to give a speech on a rather technical project.   45 minutes long.   One uh, process we used to get a certain aspect of the project to work was called "FVM".  (F***ing voodoo magic)    I used the acronym 23 times during my speech, and half a dozen times in the slides.   All the brass nodded and pretended to understand.  

Only one person after the briefing asked me what the FVM process was.   I explained we have no freakin idea how it worked, but it did.  Hence, f'ing voodoo magic.  He thought it was hysterical.   My boss looked like he needed more ulcer meds.

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

I was hired to admin a huge AIX sysadmin project for the .mil last year. Spent 8 hours doing the actual work on the server, the remaining 2 months and 29 days alternating between writing documantation that would explain what I did in those 8 hours and sitting around farting and reading the phone book.  My 12 page double-spaced document- clear, concise, to the point, written so any keyboard -savvy 13 year old or GS16 could follow it was promptly turned over to the Prime Contractors' Minions (Accenture) who a month later disgorged it as a 230 some odd page tome of charts, graphs, flowcharts, irrelevant references, and a table of 'peer review board members' without my name mentioned.

For what they were paing me, and for the noontime rooftop entertainment (search 'turkey vulture' here or on THR), I didn't mind a bit.

Regards,

[lee n. field]

Bingo.   That's almost as bad as asking the geeks to give a speech to the bosses.  Bad idea.

Absolutely.  Geeks (speaking as one, though not a programmer) and bosses are mutually unintelligible.  The do not speak each other's languages.  They need an interpreter, just as much as a Scotsman talking to a Deep South American does.

[BozemanMT]

I once had to give a speech on a rather technical project.   45 minutes long.   One uh, process we used to get a certain aspect of the project to work was called "FVM".  (F***ing voodoo magic)    I used the acronym 23 times during my speech, and half a dozen times in the slides.   All the brass nodded and pretended to understand.  

Only one person after the briefing asked me what the FVM process was.   I explained we have no freakin idea how it worked, but it did.  Hence, f'ing voodoo magic.  He thought it was hysterical.   My boss looked like he needed more ulcer meds.

That's great and a new one on me, and I love TLA's
my favorites:
LTO:  less than optimum (because sometimes you can't just say that the software sucks)
OBE:  overcome by events
WAPD:  works as poorly designed
WAC: works as coded

software is a dying business.  Poorly managed the world over.

[bermbuster]

That's great and a new one on me, and I love TLA's
my favorites:
LTO:  less than optimum (because sometimes you can't just say that the software sucks)
OBE:  overcome by events
WAPD:  works as poorly designed
WAC: works as coded

software is a dying business.  Poorly managed the world over.

PFM: Pure F****** Magic

[Tallpine]

I suppose he is an Irishman too ... ?

[280plus]

SWAG: Scientific Wild Assed Guess