Agile Documentation
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Scott Ambler distinguishes three types of documentation:
- keepers;
- documents that always need to be up-to-date (should appear in ready to ship;
- update when it hurts:
- documents are only updated when the burden of outdatedness outweigh and justify the effort of getting it up-to-date; e.g. architecture documents can linger for a while
- never
- documents that you never update (consider removing them altogether)
Toss every document that you plan to make in one of these bins. Then reconsider creating them at all.
Documentation principle: Do not create documentation unless:
- legally required;
- of key value to any of the stakeholders (be explicit about the stakeholder(s) and the document's value).
See:
- http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/agileDocumentation.htm
- A Pattern Guide to Producing Lightweight Documents for Software Projects by Andreas Ruping.