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Integrating documentation into development processes

By Olivier Carrère

Documentation is part of the software. Supplied with the product, it must:

  • be released simultaneously,
  • follow the same life cycles, and
  • be subject to the same production and quality control processes.

Modular documentation sources in text format Modular documentation sources in text format

Ideally, it should meet the following criteria:

  • no vendor lock-in (independence of format and content editor),
  • free and open publishing channels,
  • fully automated layout.

Until a few years ago, the only tools available to deliver quality deliverables in PDF or HTML relied on binary and proprietary formats that didn’t integrate well with development teams’ version control systems.

As a result, technical documentation could not meet the same quality and time-to-market requirements as the products.

DocBook, then DITA XML, and reStructuredText have changed all that: these text formats can be edited with any type of program, from a simple text editor to a graphical IDE, integrating perfectly with Subversion, Git, or any other version control system.

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