Re: What should a documentation contain, and what not

From: Rene Brun (Rene.Brun@cern.ch)
Date: Wed Oct 13 1999 - 22:56:02 MEST


Hi John, Walter,
I agree with your comments. However, let me make the following
observation.
Any human project can only reach perfection by following
an asymptotic behaviour. So the choice is:
 - wait for ever for the perfect documentation
 - meanwhile provide access to the source.

It is our experience that exposing the source has the big advantage
to show how classes are really used in the real life. I am not just
talking of the root source here.

John, it would be really constructive if you could send a list of
the functions for which you have found the documentation missing.

Rene Brun

On Wed, 13 Oct 1999, John Zweizig wrote:

> 
> Walter F.J. Mueller wrote:
> 
> >It worries me a little that the `source browser' is considered one of the
> >more important features in the ROOT documentation. It should be superfluous
> >for most, applications should be written against an interface specification,
> >not against an implementation.
> 
> I agree entirely. The fact that the root source code provides useful 
> documentation is a sad comment on the state of the documentation of the root 
> classes. I have found many methods with parameter lists of single character 
> variable names where there is no mention of how the parameters are used, what 
> units are assumed, etc. Perhaps the most useful feature a documentation tool can 
> have is to encourage the author to provide all the necessary information by e.g. 
> requiring a description of all non-void parameters and return values.
> 



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