![]() This subset of writers constitutes the holy grail of API technical documentation. Technical writers are a good choice for writing API documentation, especially if they can work closely with developers to fill in the knowledge gaps caused by a lack of programming experience. Have a look at this job ad on LinkedIn as a good example of the many hats an API technical writer needs to wear to do quality work: That means that API technical writers need to be even more skilled in development processes and have more technical knowledge than is usually expected from technical writers. Remember, the primary audience for API documentation are developers, not end-users with very little technical knowledge. However, writing API technical documentation can be even trickier. Not only do they have to be excellent storytellers who can easily explain complex concepts, but they also need to have a working knowledge of the technology itself (for example, knowledge of programming languages if they work in development.) Technical writers need a specific set of skills, no matter what kind of technology they’re writing about. They inform the users of all the things they can do with the API and help them achieve their goals by providing guidance on how the API is used. Long story short, API technical writers form the link between the engineers who develop APIs and the users (also engineers) who implement them into their own products. Let’s look at our example from Google again. That’s why APIs come with extensive technical documentation so that developers can understand and learn how to implement the API they are working with. However, that doesn’t mean that the developer that gains access to an API will automatically know how to work with it. When APIs are commercialized in the way we described above, they become products made by developers for developers. ![]() We recommend you to read our article about - How to Write API Documentation: The Ultimate Guide - before you dig deeper in this article. That’s where API technical writers come in. One of the most useful features of the app is the interactive map that guides drivers to customers and shows customers how far their driver is.Īt first glance, it looks much like the original Spotify app, doesn’t it? That’s because this is a product meant for consumption.īut where the original app is intended for music lovers, this product caters to developers.Īnd as with any other software product, APIs need quality technical documentation that will guide developers through the features of the API and help them integrate it into the product they are building. In recent times, developers and software companies have started using APIs to get their products to market much faster than ever before.įor example, consider an app like Uber. They save users a lot of valuable time and do all of the heavy lifting when it comes to searching for and delivering information from all kinds of online databases.īut it’s not just ordinary internet users who benefit from APIs. Without an API, you would need to access the airline’s database and manually look for flights that meet your criteria, wasting a lot of time and maybe even quitting the service altogether. Once some options that fit your parameters are found, the API would deliver them back to your travel app for your selection. ![]() Your travel app would then connect with an airline’s API, which would request possible flight options from the airline’s database. You’d put in your origin and destination points, dates, and other information relevant to your trip. ![]()
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