Software Documentation That Actually Gets Used
What documentation your software needs, who it is for, and how to keep it useful without slowing development down.
Documentation is often treated as an afterthought, then sorely missed when a developer leaves or a new team takes over. Good documentation does not need to be long; it needs to answer the right questions for the right people.
Documentation for different audiences
- Developers: how the system is structured, how to run it locally, and how to deploy it.
- Operators: how to monitor, back up, and recover the system.
- Users: how to complete tasks in the product.
- Business owners: what the system does, what it depends on, and what it costs to run.
What every project should have
- A clear overview of the architecture and main components
- Setup instructions that work for a new developer
- A list of external services, accounts, and credentials (stored securely)
- Explanations of important business rules and decisions
- Release and rollback procedures
Keep it close to the code
Documentation stored alongside the code is more likely to be updated when the code changes. Short notes explaining why a decision was made are often more valuable than descriptions of what the code does.
Record decisions
A simple log of significant technical decisions, with the reasons behind them, saves future teams from repeating discussions or undoing choices without understanding them.
Keep it current
Outdated documentation is worse than none. Make updating documentation part of finishing a feature, not a separate project.
Documentation is a gift to the next person who works on your software, who may be you.
MOKRIN documents the systems we build and hands over everything when needed, because clients own their code and should be able to work with any team.
