Re: Imaging (actually, really user docs)
Steve Avery (stevea@sedal.usyd.edu.AU)
Thu, 26 Sep 1996 12:33:14 +1000
Okay,
I've just got to jump in on this user manual stuff (although it is way
off topic). The way big companies (such as Microsoft) work is that they
come up with a spec, and then a copy is handed to the documenters, and a
copy is handed to the coders.
The documenters come up with a manual, and they use prototypes for the
user interface for screen shots. It is easy to prototypes a GUI without
any real code behind it.
Frequently, the manual goes off to be printed before the code hits the
final debugging stages. The reason is simple - it can take more than a
month to have manuals (and packaging) printed and bound, whereas duping
CDs and floppies can be done inhouse and very quickly.
This is actually described in a book by a guy from Microsoft and
published by MSPress (sorry, don't remember the exact reference). It's
the way they do business, and it is the ONLY way they can ship a product
as fast as they do.
Smaller companies (ie. those companies that don't gross ten figures)
can afford the extra delays incurred by documenting after the product is
finished. Similarly, the documents are generally shorter and required in
smaller volume.
As to specs, it's a boring and thankless task, so only rarely is it
done properly. (Although, I know Dobberpuhl's ALPHA team at DEC wrote
the operating system and compiler for the chipset while it was being
developed, both teams working from the same spec, and the op/sys booted
first time in simulation.)
cheers
-steve (who won't comment on the cut-and-paste Borland docs)