Published: 16 July 2024
Documentation communicates design intent and captures significant decisions. Good documentation increases the chances of successfully designing, delivering and updating software. Application architects should use this guidance to minimize the effort and maximize the value of documentation.
Application architecture documentation created in advance of development captures information about design intent and plans, but does not reflect decisions made during development unless it is continuously updated.
Documentation created for no specific audience or for multiple disparate audiences has little or no value. Providing information that is not relevant to the audience decreases readability and increases the risk of the document not being read.
Architecture documentation that can’t be found delivers no value. Documentation that is hard to read, hard to find or filled with errors increases the risk of misunderstandings, poor decisions and costly assumptions.
Using file-based documentation
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