How to Write a Software Documentation? (With Examples & Best Practices)

If you want to launch a software product and get your users used to using your product, you’re in for a tough ride. Fortunately, you can manage this process and get your users used to your product with software documentation. Writing software documents can be a pain if you don’t have a template or don’t know how to create one. If you need help with software documentation, we’ve got you covered!

In this article, we’ll explore what software documentation is and how to write one.

Ready? Let’s begin!

TL; DR

• Software documentation is a collection of guides and articles that aim to help developers and users understand the software. 
• Software documentation allows end users to effectively use your product and provides a smoother coding process for your developers. 
• Software documentation is divided into two categories: user-focused software documentation and developer-focused software documentation. 
• To write effective software documents, you need to identify your objectives and audience, create an outline, and gather information about the software. 
• You can add visuals while drafting your software document and proofread it after you complete the process to make it error-free. 
• If you are looking for a customizable AI assistant that can support you from the beginning to the end of your software document writing process, ZenoChat by TextCortex is the way to go. 

What is Software Documentation?

Software documentation is a collection of guides and articles that help developers and users to understand the software. Technical documentation includes a wide range of documents, from API docs to “README” files. Some of those docs help end-users get oriented, troubleshoot, or start using a piece of software. Other documents provide developers with in-depth technical information, guides, to-do lists etc.

Advantages of Software Documentation

Software documentation helps end-users become familiar with your software and learn how to use it effectively. On the other hand, software documentation helps developers understand your software and build the necessary integrations and add-ons.

Software documentation provides users with the following advantages:

• Clear instructions and explanations make the software easy to use.
• Quick access to software information.
• Step-by-step guides, instructions, and tips.
• Helps them explore efficient ways to use the software.

Software documentation provides developers with the following advantages:

• Speeds up development by providing details on frameworks, libraries, products, and APIs.
• Strengthens teamwork and creates a collaborative working environment.
• Guidance coding strategy and increase code quality.

Software Documentation Types

Software documentation has two target audiences, users, and developers. Documents written for both audiences have different tones, jargon, and structure. Therefore, it is possible to separate software documentation into two types: user-focused software documentation, and developer-focused software documentation.

Examples of user-focused software documentation:

• How-to and user guides
• Release Notes
• Tutorials
• Troubleshooting Manuals
• Explanations
• FAQs

Example of developer-focused software documentation:

• Back-end release notes
• API documentation
• README files
• System Documents
• Source Codes
• Technical Document

How to Write Effective Software Documentations? 

Writing effective software documentation is a challenging process. Since every company has different needs and workflows, you need to create the most suitable software documentation for your company. However, there are common methods you can use to write any documentation. Let’s explore how to write effective software documentation.

Identify Objectives and Audience

First thing first, you need to take a step back and review the purpose of software documentation. This way, you can list the documentation's objectives, identify your audience, and take the first step toward writing effective software documentation.

Outline Software Documentation

An essential part of writing software documentation is outlining the document. This will give you a compass for writing software documents. You can use the software document outline to see what's next and measure your progress on the document. A standard software documentation should include the following headings:

Gather Information

To write the perfect version of the software documentation, you may need to gather information about the product from the developer team, the product manager, and other relevant parties. This may require inspecting experts or users, talking to stakeholders, and reading existing documents. You can compile the information you have gathered by taking notes and using the proper ones in your software documentation.

If you are looking for an assistant who will read all the documents for you during the information-gathering phase and write summaries highlighting key points, you can try ZenoChat. Thanks to its strong RAG (Retrieval-augmented generation) and knowledge bases, ZenoChat can quickly analyze the documents you upload and generate summaries indicating key points.

Create Drafts

Now that you have gathered the necessary information to write a software document and created an outline, you have a strong foundation to work on. Using the information and outline you have; you can move on to the actual drafting phase. At this stage, you can either write a single draft or several drafts and choose the most informative and easy-to-understand one. Moreover, by including ZenoChat in the process, you can complete the drafting process that would take hours manually in a few minutes and edit the drafts you have obtained.

Add Visuals

If you want your software documentation to look visually appealing, you can add visuals such as graphs, charts, product images, flowcharts, illustrations, and screenshots. You can make your software documents more readable and attractive by including topic and paragraph-related visuals. Moreover, you can use visuals to emphasize a point, explain a technical concept, help the reader, and make your document look much better.

Final Editing

After completing the draft of your software document and incorporating visuals, the final task is to proofread it for accuracy and clarity. At this stage, you should correct various errors, including improper visual placement, typos, punctuation mistakes, and spacing issues, to transform your software document into its final form. Additionally, you can leverage conversational AI assistants like ZenoChat to quickly identify and fix errors in your documents, saving valuable time in the process.

Software Documentation Examples

Example 1: API Documentation for a Weather Forecasting Service

Documentation Title: WeatherAPI Documentation

1. Introduction

• Purpose of the Document: To explain how to use WeatherAPI to retrieve weather data including current conditions and forecasts.
• Scope of the Software: WeatherAPI provides real-time weather information and forecasts for various locations worldwide.
• Audience: Developers and software engineers integrating weather data into applications.

2. API Overview

• Base URL: https://api.weatherapi.com/v1
• Authentication: An API key is required to access the API.

3. API Endpoints

• Current Weather:
  • GET /current.json
  • Parameters:
    • key: Your API key.
    • q: Location (city name or coordinate).
• Response Example:

{
  "location": {
    "name": "London",
    "region": "Greater London",
    "country": "UK",
    ...
  },
  "current": {
    "temp_c": 15,
    "condition": {
      "text": "Clear",
      ...
    }
  }
}

4. Usage Example

• To get the current weather in Paris, send a request: GET https://api.weatherapi.com/v1/current.json?key=YOUR_API_KEY&q=Paris

• Response:
  • The response will contain current weather conditions including temperature and humidity.

Example 2: Web Application for Task Management

Documentation Title: TaskMaster Web Application Documentation

1. Introduction

• Purpose of the Document: This document provides comprehensive information on the TaskMaster web application, its features, installation, and user guidance.
• Scope of the Software: TaskMaster allows users to create, manage, and collaborate on tasks in real-time.
• Audience: This documentation is intended for end-users, administrators, and developers.

2. Installation and Setup

• Pre-requisites: Node.js, npm, and MongoDB must be installed.
• Installation Steps:
  1. Clone the repository: git clone <repository_url>
  2. Navigate to the project folder: cd taskmaster
  3. Install dependencies: npm install
  4. Start the server: npm start

3. User Guide

• Getting Started: Create an account by clicking on "Sign Up." After logging in, users can add tasks.
• Features:
  • Add, edit, and delete tasks.
  • Assign tasks to team members.
  • Set due dates and reminders.
• Usage Example:
  • To add a task, click on "Add Task," fill in the details, and click "Save."

How can AI Help You with Software Documentation?

ZenoChat is a conversational AI assistant designed for enterprises, aiming to boost productivity across their whole department.

You can draft a software documentation with AI, add it to your company knowledge and have your team collaborate on this document using our AI to streamline your software development cycle. TextCortex allows you to integrate AI, right where you work with your team.

Our knowledge bases and ZenoChat are designed to support you and boost your performance in most company tasks, including software document writing. See the results from one of our case studies:

• TextCortex was implemented for Kemény Boehme Consultants as a solution to tackle these challenges and today employees report increased efficiency and productivity (saving 3 work days per month per employee on average).
• AICX, an ecosystem partner of TextCortex, was integral to the onboarding and helped achieve a 70% activation rate of the team within the first weeks.
• Employee confidence in using and working with AI increased by 60%.‍
• The implementation results in a 28x return on investment (ROI).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is documentation of a software?

Software documentation plays a key role in the implementation, progress, and development of the project. It includes technical manuals, online materials, guides, articles, and any data related to the software development process.

What is a software documentation example?

Some examples of software documentation include API documentation. This includes the base URL, API key, and parameters that detail the program's structure and technical design. Through the application programming interface (API) documentation, you can prepare a guide for employees assigned to the project and ensure that everyone learns what to do.

How to create software documentation?

To create software documentation, simply follow these steps:

• Identify Objectives and Audience
• Outline Software Documentation
• Gather Information
• Create Drafts
• Add Visuals
• Final Editing

If you want to automate all these steps and work on the final project, you can use TextCortex and its advanced features such as knowledge bases and web search. With TextCortex, you can generate software documentation templates with just prompting.

What is a documentation example?

In professional life, documentations are usually written resources that provide information about a project or task or that help streamline the workflow of employees. Some of the documentation examples include project proposals, project plans, meeting minutes, status reports and so on.