Why Write?

Why Write?

You're probably not here because writing is a passion of yours.

So why should you care about it?

Why Write?

Sorry, writing is still relevant, even as a software developer.

Things You Might Write: in school

  • Lab report.
  • Research paper
  • Essay/term paper.

These won't be the focus of the course.

Things You Might Write: professionally

I'm more interested in these.

  • Project requirements/planning/design document.
  • User documentation.
  • Help text, error messages.
  • Resumé and cover letter.
  • API documentation.
  • Bug report.

Things You Might Write: professionally

  • “Options memo”: which X should we buy/choose?
  • Web site for your startup.
  • Summary of data analysis.
  • Progress report ≈ should you keep paying me?
  • Email: we should change the code layout/framework version/backend server/….
  • Email: I think I deserve a raise.

Why Write?

Developers often dismiss some these as bureaucracy or red tape.

… but really, they are a result of the people you work with being people. They need to be convinced that you're correct. Your brilliance isn't obvious to them.

Being unable to do these things can mean somebody else gets the job/promotion/choice of technology.

Why Write?

To communicate.

To convince.

Programmers and Writing

Theorem: you're already a good writer. Or maybe “You're a good writer waiting to happen.”

A good programmer decomposes their ideas into statements, functions, classes. A statement should be one “step”. A function should be one logical operation. A class should contain all of the logic to manage some information.

A writer has sentences, paragraphs, and sections for fairly analogous reasons.

Programmers and Writing

Writing is much more about organizing ideas and information than it is about grammar and citations. Being a good programmer makes you good at organizing ideas. If you can write good code, you can write a good report.

Worrying about subject-verb agreement and APA citation style is small-minded thinking.