Technical writing and computer programming

Author

Kaufman, Judith

Author_Institution

Eastern Washington Univ., Cheney, WA, USA

Volume

31

Issue

4

fYear

1988

fDate

12/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

171

Lastpage

174

Abstract

It is argued that technical writing and computer programming are based on similar principles, perhaps because both are mechanisms for efficiently organizing and communicating complex information. Both technical writing and programming are multistep processes involving planning, drafting, and revising. Moreover, six key aspects of computer programming (modularity, modifiability, user interface, failsafe presentation, style, and debugging) have analogs among such technical writing principles and practices as report sectioning, audience analysis and adaptation, and editing. These similarities are discussed and a course that builds on these likenesses to teach technical writing to programming students is described

Keywords

education; programming; technical presentation; adaptation; audience analysis; computer programming; debugging; drafting; editing; failsafe presentation; modifiability; modularity; planning; report sectioning; revising; style; technical writing; user interface; Computer science; Data structures; Debugging; Organizing; Process planning; Professional communication; Programming profession; Technical drawing; User interfaces; Writing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0361-1434

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/47.9219

Filename

9219