Technical Documentation in Application Development

What is the purpose of technical documentation in application development and what kind of data do you need to include in it? 

Technical documentation is often required for programming projects within the workplace. Providing this documentation makes implementing the program easier and supplies others with information related to the functionality of the program.

For this assignment, you will submit programming project documentation that others can use as a primary source. The documentation should include the following.

1. Title Page:
   1. course code and name
   2. student name
   3. instructor name
   4. project title
   5. date of submission
   6. Introduction:
      1. Define the problem and provides an overview of the solution.
      2. Critical terminology and definitions that will appear frequently in other sections of the document can also be introduced in this section.
      3. Program Interface:
         1. Explain how users communicate with the program

                                                              i.      Setting up the programming environment

                                                            ii.      Commands that execute the program

                                                          iii.      Command parameters

                                                          iv.      Program termination

1. Program Execution:
   1. Explain how end-users execute the program

                                                              i.      Describe algorithms, data structures, and implementation

                                                            ii.      Program inputs supplied by the user

                                                          iii.      Program outputs

                                                          iv.      Program functionality

                                                            v.      Program menu options

                                                          vi.      Program parts

1. Include screen outputs and figures
2. Divide content into subsections
3. Input and Output:
   1. Explain input and output including exact formal of files
   2. Include examples of input and outputs along with explanations
   3. Program Structure:
      1. Technical guide for understanding the program
      2. Use subsections to document the following:

                                                              i.      Provide overall program structure and explanation of subprogram, modules, classes, etc.

                                                            ii.      Include explanation of data structures including types, variables, domains, etc.

1. Examples:
   1. Provide examples that show how different inputs effect the behavior of the program
   2. Improvements and Extensions:
      1. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the program
      2. Discuss areas where the project could be improved in future iterations
      3. Include discussion of how the project plan changed throughout the development process and explanation of why these changes occurred
      4. Difficulties Encountered:
         1. Summarize the difficulties that emerged during project construction
         2. Explain the effects of the difficulties on the project

10.  Conclusion:

1. Write conclusions about the project

11.  References:

1. Document research references that were used to develop the program

                                                              i.      Document research references in APA format

12.  Appendices:

1. Program source code files
2. Execution details and complex sample executions (optional)