Documentation
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
Documentation is written explanation of how your code works and why. It's the love letter you leave for future developers — including yourself six months from now — so they don't have to read every line of code to understand what's going on.
Real Talk
Documentation encompasses inline code comments, API references, architecture guides, tutorials, and README files. Good documentation reduces onboarding time, prevents misuse of APIs, and captures the intent behind non-obvious design decisions.
When You'll Hear This
"The library has terrible documentation — had to read the source." / "Write documentation as you go, not as an afterthought."
Related Terms
DX (DX)
DX (Developer Experience) is UX but for developers. How painful is it to set up the project? How fast is the feedback loop?
Markdown
Markdown is a simple way to format text using just plain characters. Put `**asterisks**` around a word and it becomes **bold**.
Open Source
Open source means the recipe is public. Anyone can read it, copy it, tweak it, and share their version. It's the opposite of a secret sauce.
README (README)
A README is the instruction manual taped to the front of a code project. It tells newcomers what the project does, how to install it, and how to use it.
YAML (YAML)
YAML is a way to write structured data that actually looks like a human wrote it.