Chasing Gods of Technical Documentation

The reality of writing (documentation as well) is hard, unhuman; constant chase for (pixel) perfection, through WYSWIG editors hurdle. But it doesn’t need to be like this - I’ll proove it in this session.

Abstract

One of my professors at the university used to say: "Developers are paid for writing docs as they write code for pleasure". However the reality differs, documentation is the last thing we want to think about. It’s boring, in MS Word, in a different workflow than code, with no transparency between 'commits' whatsoever.

My intention for this session is to show opposite, that there is a 3rd way - as easy as writing an email, a memo; like a few lines of code. At least that’s an idea behind AsciiDoc (or Markdown or RestructuredText) - simple, intuitive and minimal syntax, text based documents, readable without additional tools.

During the session I’ll introduce AsciiDoc (and the tools ecosystem around it). Above all, I’ll like to share a passion for better writing, with simple tools, easily sharing outcomes of our work.

Step by step we will be tackling the syntax, tools - in possibly the most pleasant way - writing live. I’d like you never ever go back to Word! Because it’s beyond WYSWIG editors when writing becomes simple and geeky-pleasure.